The pledge was signed by no teachers on Oct. 9, the day before. It now has seven pledges from Kingston teachers.
They’re one of the thousands of US teachers pledging to continue educating students about the controversial Critical Race Theory, which explains racism is embedded in US culture and politics.
Comments from Kingston teachers included, "we can shape our future by teaching the past honestly" and "We cannot move forward in an anti-racist way until we look at and teach the true past".
Though the concept was first suggested in the late 70’s, it has recently exploded as a contentious issue between the American right and left in the last two years.
Many who signed the pledge are defying state bans on the teachings. Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.
Other states, such as Montana and South Dakota, have denounced the teachings without passing specific legislation.
In an interview with The Washington Free Beacon', Ashley Varner of the Freedom Foundation accused the Zinn Education Project of providing “left-leaning propaganda to teachers.”
| Teachers | Thoughts on Critical Race Theory |
|---|---|
| Andrea Pastorella | Teach the truth, history not taught leads to ignorance. |
| Deborah Franklin-Feingold | we can shape our future by teaching the past honestly. |
| Deborah Franklin-Feingold | we need to teach our students the true history of our nation so they can improve it. |
| Donna Flayhan | No comment |
| Kristen Gunning | No comment |
| Odell Winfield | No comment |
| Patricia Tyrol | We cannot move forward in an anti-racist way until we look at and teach the true past. |
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