There are a plethora of controversial education topics in the news. We are concerned with unreasonable, controversial, and extreme views becoming mandated in public education, not only in Illinois but throughout the country and throughout the world.
If Illinois were to also embrace some of the standards noted below, would our D158 school board support programs such as these? Would they finally push back? We believe the board needs to be willing to fight for us and our students when lines noting what is reasonable have been crossed.
Critical Race Theory / Equity
- California’s new Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum teach students to recite prayers to five different Aztec gods, including the god of human sacrifice (in an effort to have less Judeo-Christian themes in curriculum.) Parents are now suing the state over this portion of the curriculum.
- An Ontario school district burned 4700 books from 30 schools in a “flame purification” ceremony so that the the school library books remaining on shelves would have “positive and inclusive messages about the diverse communities within our schools.”
Lowering Education Standards
- Oregon’s new high school graduation standards dropped the requirement that students prove proficiency in reading, writing or math before graduation in an effort to the new standards for graduation “will help benefit the state’s Black, Latino, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.”
(Original article is behind paywall – archived version here.)
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