Rockingham Times

There were no new teachers in Londonderry who signed the pledge on Oct. 9, according to an online pledge from the Zinn Education Project.

The pledge was signed by no teachers on Oct. 8, the day before. It now has one pledge from Londonderry teacher.

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.

The Londonderry teacher wrote "If learning about history doesn't make you uncomfortable, you are not learning real history. Our education system has remained static for decades as the global job market as evolved. We do a disservice to our students by not preparing them for the real-world -- and the real-world unfortunately includes systemic racism. This is a hard fact. Students want to learn so that they can go into the world and shape it as their generation sees fit. This is NOT indoctrination -- this is giving kids the understanding of our society/market/environment as well as the tools to think critically and compassionately in all their future endeavors." when pledging to teach Critical Race Theory.

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

Tiffany Gagnon

If learning about history doesn't make you uncomfortable, you are not learning real history. Our education system has remained static for decades as the global job market as evolved. We do a disservice to our students by not preparing them for the real-world -- and the real-world unfortunately includes systemic racism. This is a hard fact. Students want to learn so that they can go into the world and shape it as their generation sees fit. This is NOT indoctrination -- this is giving kids the understanding of our society/market/environment as well as the tools to think critically and compassionately in all their future endeavors.