NEWS TAKING LIBERTIES
Illustration by Michael Burmesch.
Republicans Are Determined to Stop Teachers from Educating Students BY JOEL MCNALLY
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any school teachers are frightened for their futures these days and they have a right to be. Republican politicians in Wisconsin and more than half our states are threatening teachers with serious consequences if they don’t stop educating students about everything going on in the world.
The latest rightwing attack on public schools has been raging for more than a year with angry, screaming parent groups disrupting school board meetings threatening the jobs and lives of educators. Those weren’t actually spontaneous grassroots protests, but in Wisconsin they were locally funded. That’s because Milwaukee’s rightwing Bradley Foundation financed hundreds of such groups nationally with names like Moms for Liberty and Fight for Schools. They threatened public schools for requiring masks to protect students and staff and for teaching about racism in America. In an election year, Republicans are eager to continue pushing their rightwing agenda. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a professional educator, vetoed their bill to ban teachers from discussing racism and the civil rights movement. The problem with all the Republican laws and executive orders outlawing teaching about racism is they’re so vaguely written nobody has any idea what’s against the law. 18 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
FEAR AND CONFUSION In New Hampshire, where Republicans have total control, state law explicitly bars teaching that any age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, family status, mental or physical disability, religion or national origin are inherently superior or inferior to any other, but teachers need to know the legal definitions of words like “inherently,” “superior” and “inferior.” “We asked for clarification from the state, from the union, from school lawyers,” said a high school teacher. “The universal response is no one’s really sure. It’s led us to be exceptionally cautious because we don’t want to risk our livelihoods when we’re not really sure what the rules are.” Which is exactly the intention— to scare teachers into never uttering a word about America’s continuing history of racism. That’s frightening enough, but Republicans now have a radical new way to destroy the lives of teachers who teach things they don’t want children to know about including racism, U.S. history, science and sexuality. Republicans are introducing copycat laws around the country modeled after the successful gimmick Texas Republicans used to shut down legal abortions. Their unconstitutional law allowed citizen vigilantes to sue anyone aiding an abortion and collect a bounty of $10,000.
