There are growing concerns about the social, religious and political influences that some educators exercise over our students. Should teachers be allowed to introduce their political views and personal values into their lesson plans and classrooms? Influences that may directly conflict with the wishes of guardians, and a student’s personal family values.
One parent recently contacted me to express their concerns, surprisingly not about a traditional public school teacher, but about a charter school teacher. The parent wrote:
“My politically astute 14-year-old came home yesterday after taking the AZ Merit test and told me that the test was very politically biased. One essay in particular was called ‘Should we keep the Electoral College’ and it apparently read like an essay by Ocassio Cortez and Bernie Saunders. It was a leftist propaganda hit piece denouncing the Electoral College (and thereby our Constitution, our Elections and our Country). It didn’t present any fair or balanced view of why the founding fathers so wisely implemented the Electoral College.”
I agree, this sounds less like education and more like propaganda. Classroom curricula and test questions need to present balanced views, representing all sides of an issue.
The angst over the Electoral College is a current Democrat Party rallying cry, that has grown since President Trump’ was elected. Surprisingly, Democrats did not express their concerns over the Electoral College after either of President Obama’s two electoral victories.
Within the past two years, I had the honor of testifying before Congress in support of our Constitution’s Electoral College requirement. The Framers of our Constitution designed it as a fair system for electing our Presidents, a process where less populous states would not be dominated by the larger, more populous states. However, as a calculated political strategy, eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a ‘Popular Vote’ would disenfranchise those states in the middle of our nation, while allowing the East and West coasts to dominate Presidential elections with Democrat victories.
The success and future of Arizona and our nation requires independently minded high school and college graduates, young adults who were taught how to think, not what to think. Educators violate their duty and our trust when they behave in a biased and unprofessional manner.
And if educators can manipulate our students with impunity, consider their immense power over these young developing minds, and our elections, if the Democrats achieve another of their liberal goals, of lowering the voting age to 16.