* WMBD…

A group of Republican state lawmakers, including State Rep. Dan Brady (105th District), State Rep. Tom Demmer (90th District), State Rep. Adam Niemurg (109th District), and Steven Reick (63rd District) spoke against Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards Monday. […]

While agreeing that all students should feel welcomed, some state representatives say the standards are pushing partisan politics into schools.

“That’s why this is an overreach, it establishes a whole series of new mandates that are outside of some of the core parts of education that we’re already struggling within Illinois,” Demmer said.

“It’s so disappointing that rather than focusing on any of these issues, the State Board of Education has instead chosen to create pages of new rules and mandates that prioritize social activism over basic skills,” Brady said.

* Chicago Republican Party…

Oppose Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards
On Tuesday, February 16, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) of the Illinois General Assembly will vote on a new rule already approved by the Illinois State Board of Education.
The rule’s title, which might as well have been dreamed up by a propagandist like Goebbels, is called “Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards.” Assuming the rule is ratified on February 16, which will most likely occur, it will mandate that teachers fulfill a whole slew of progressive, politically-correct objectives, including but not limited to:

• “Understand and value the notion that multiple lived experiences exist, that there is not one ‘correct’ way of doing or understanding something.” This could mean that if a student’s parent is a drug-addict, his teacher would say that there is no single correct way to parent.
• “Recognize how their identity (Race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class, religion, etc.) affects their perspectives and beliefs about pedagogy and students.” An affront to our Judeo-Christian foundation and a promotion of secularism (let’s not forget a rising sensitivity to Islam!)
• “Assess how their biases and perceptions affect their teaching practice and how they access tools to mitigate their own behavior (racism, sexism, homophobia, unearned privilege, Eurocentrism, etc.). Belief in God will be relegated to the bias ash heap.
• “Provide multiple opportunities for parents to communicate in their language and method of preference.” Continuation of the Left’s effort to divide through the multiplication of languages with a hiring spree for translators, thereby diverting more dollars from the classroom.
• “Engage with students’ families and community members outside of the classroom to develop a more holistic understanding of the students’ lived experience.” Open season for taxpayer-funded field trips to leftist political rallies.

Needless to say, this proposed rule is a complete encroachment on our liberties and will be imposed upon a bureaucracy already smothered with woke-ism and virtue-signaling. Please reach out to the members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules listed below before the vote on Tuesday, February 16.

That’s a bit of a stretch, to say the least, but this thing is gaining ground on social media. Groups like the Illinois Opportunity Project are asking supporters to call the Democratic chairman of JCAR to ask him to kill the rule and use these talking points…

1. Students should be provided with the basic skills and knowledge they need to succeed and we should leave politics out of the classroom. Teachers have incredibly difficult jobs, and forcing them to teach certain political viewpoints and ideologies will only make their jobs harder.
2. Students at young, impressionable ages should not be forced to comply with a political ideology regardless of what it is. This rule creates a dangerous precedent for the government to promote a preferred political agenda in schools.
3. We shouldn’t be creating more mandates and barriers that turn away qualified teachers who do not wish to push a certain political ideology.

* The ISBE sent out this clarification yesterday, noting that this program is optional, won’t take effect until 2025 and is about teacher prep, not curricula…

• Implementation of the proposed Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards will consist only of approved Illinois educator preparation programs incorporating the standards into their coursework in the best way they see fit.
• ISBE also will offer optional professional development on the standards to current educators. Educators and school districts maintain local control over what professional development they choose.
• The Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards apply to teacher preparation programs, not to K-12 school curricula.
• ISBE updated the draft standards in response to public comment to provide further clarity on the intended goal and remove language perceived as political.
• The standards will take effect in October 2025, giving educator preparation programs ample time to incorporate the standards.
• The standards support multiple viewpoints, experiences, and perspectives; promote inclusiveness; and encourage critical thinking.
• The standards were developed by a diverse group of educators from around the state.
• The standards affirm educators of all races and ethnicities and will help them better engage students from all different backgrounds. More than 52 percent of Illinois students identify as students of color, and English Learners make up the fastest growing student population. The ability to reach students from different cultural backgrounds is an essential skill to succeed as a teacher in Illinois today.
• Research shows that teachers of color help close achievement gaps for students of color and are highly rated by students of all races. Incorporating the Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards into educator preparation programs will help attract and retain educators of color.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Reick pointed specifically to a portion of the new standards that call on teachers to “understand and value the notion that multiple lived experiences exist, that there is not one ‘correct’ way of doing or understanding something, and that what is seen as ‘correct’ is most often based on our lived experiences.”

He also pointed to another provision calling on teachers to “(a)ssess how their biases and perceptions affect their teaching practice and how they access tools to mitigate their own behavior (racism, sexism, homophobia, unearned privilege, Eurocentrism, etc.)”

Another provision calls on educators to “(b)e aware of the effects of power and privilege and the need for social advocacy and social action to better empower diverse students and communities.”

“Let’s be clear. This rule is not an improvement to education,” Reick said. “It’s an attempt to interject politics into the classroom. The standards that ISBE wants to impose are beyond misguided. Requiring certain political viewpoints in our school systems is simply unacceptable.”

Look, I get the uproar. The ISBE’s approach appeared to arrogantly assume they were dealing with allies who would wildly cheer from the cheap seats. Nope. But, there is not one correct way of doing quite a lot of things. And people, particularly teachers, ought to assess their own biases. None of that has anything to do with “politics.” Maybe some folks should check themselves.

Also, maybe the ISBE ought to also start issuing guidance for how districts should be vaccinating teachers.