Peter Greene has a great article about all the hysteria over certain books in school libraries and what parents should do about what they’re hearing from Astroturf groups on the issue.
Here are some key highlights:
What should a parent who finds "these books" in the school library do?
Step one, in all times you're dealing with a school, is to assume good intent. Start with the assumption that the school is staffed and run by people who value children and helping them grow to be their best selves, who went into education because they did, in fact, want to teach children. If you start out with the assumption that public schools are actually a sinister conspiracy to indoctrinate children or an elaborate scam being run to fill the coffers of teachers unions, it will be hard to find any basis to move forward.
Also, assuming ill will and searching for gotcha's will lead you to make absurd accusations. If you assume evil intent and the whole purpose of your search is to "catch them" being evil, you might as well withdraw your child and enroll in some private school now. But in general I believe that it is always better to search for understanding rather than confirmation of your already-formed beliefs, in part because you will always find confirmation, whether it's there or not.
This is pretty sound advice. Assuming bad intent on the part of teachers or schools is not a great way to get a helpful conversation started.
And, well, what about “those” books? Here, Greene has some helpful insight:
What we've seen so far on the lists of "these books" range from books that probably cross the line for a lot of folks to books that are primarily objectionable to racists. The demands to get rid of books (e.g. I Am Rosa Parks) that are simply an accurate portrayal of historical events in which white folks did not handle themselves very well are not supportable. I'm willing to listen to someone's explanation of why they are bad for children, but I honestly cannot imagine what a good explanation would be. Some of these may very well make some children sad. It's not clear to me why that is a bad thing.
Read more from Greene on Moms for Liberty and book banning>
Teacher Shortage - Yes, Another Story!
This story out of Oklahoma points to the ongoing teacher shortage - that is, the current value proposition for teachers is just not very good and so school systems are struggling to attract and keep teachers.
Fox 23 News in Tulsa notes:
6th grade students from McClure Elementary will start a new journey on Monday. They are moving to the halls of Memorial Middle School.
Tulsa Public Schools sent a letter home to parents, saying they couldn’t find two permanent 6th grade teachers or long-term substitutes. The district was forced to end the academic program due to the shortage. The school will remain open for prekindergarten through 5th grade classes.
FOX23 spoke with the Tulsa Classroom Teacher’s Association. President Shawna Mott-Wright says the teacher shortage in Oklahoma has surpassed a crisis.
Tennessee Earns Failing Grades on School Funding
Tennessee Education Report notes that Tennessee has once again earned failing grades when it comes to school funding:
While Gov. Bill Lee’s Administration is off discussing potential changes to state’s funding formula for schools (the BEP), a joint report from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Education Law Center indicates there’s a lot of room for growth. It’s not just how the funds are allocated, it’s also about how much – turns out, Tennessee is near the bottom in the nation when it comes to things like funding level and funding effort – we’re not putting in much money and we’re not trying very hard to change that. Lee so far has not committed to any funding increase in his proposed formula change.