Education vs ideology

As a university math teacher, then K-12 mentor in afterschool programs for 22 years in retirement, I can assure you that most white students in our country experience more psychological stress and anxiety when learning math than learning anything about U.S. racial history.

So are we supposed to eliminate or “dumb down” (teach less) math in our K-12 education, as many Republican legislators and school board members insist we do when teaching U.S. racial history, just because they think it might make some white students anxious?

It’s really scary for democracy when people demand what’s taught must adhere to their own ideologies, and even more scary when Republican state legislatures cement it into law, as some have. Also, people demanding no vaccination or masking mandates in schools — again, to satisfy their own ideologies — are defying science while jeopardizing the health and lives of our children.

It’s not the parents’ responsibility to indoctrinate their children with the parents’ own political views and biases. Rather, those genuinely concerned about our youth’s most expressed and legitimate anxieties should take action on such issues as combating school shootings (gun control) and limiting global warming.

Norm Luther

Spokane