Although pitchforks and clubs may not be in plain sight during stops of the Raise Our Standards tour, an undercurrent of the angry mob is alive and well.
The Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank, is hosting presentations across Minnesota to, in its words, "counter the 'woke' political movement invading Minnesota's public schools, turning them into ideological battlegrounds and threatening the quality of our children's education."
The tour came to Mankato on June 9 and continues throughout the month (with several Twin Cities events this week). The topic at hand is Minnesota's social studies standards, which are in the process of being updated as they are every 10 years. The center's objection is that including anything that resembles critical race theory in the standards would somehow undermine all other social studies content.
That, of course, is not the state Department of Education's intention — and the tour organizers know it. Assistant Education Commissioner Bobbie Burnham said the document contains 22 broad standards and some prospective benchmarks for each. The benchmarks are examples and aren't intended to be exhaustive. World wars and other events of historical significance absolutely will continue to be taught in public schools, Burnham said.
The first draft simply focuses on additions and revisions under consideration. A second more complete draft will be released later this summer.
Of course, the center's presenters mostly preach to the choir during its sessions, but for those audience members who go intending to become informed, they are being taken advantage of. The center's tour isn't meant to inform. It is meant to incite. The center doesn't present facts in context. It feeds audiences inflammatory statements. The center's presentation doesn't attempt to find common ground. It repeats buzzwords that the right-wing movement is equating with "indoctrination," so terms such as equity, equality and social justice take on a negative connotation.
Education Week describes critical race theory as an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.
As East High School social studies teacher Tim Meegan said at the local presentation, most social studies teachers already have been working to give their students a broader prospective, and he is happy the state social study standards are being updated to reflect that. "Any history teacher who is worth their salt is already teaching that," he said.
