By Madeline Will — July 06, 2021
As the debate over critical race theory and schools reaches a fever pitch, the two national teachers’ unions are entering the fray, vowing to defend their members against any backlash over how they teach about the nation’s complicated history with race and racism.
Both unions have presented a single underlying message: Teachers must be honest about racial injustices so that students learn to think critically about how the country’s problematic past has shaped its present. Any efforts to restrict those conversations in the classroom, the unions say, are akin to censorship.
“The backlash [to teaching about race] that you see in these radicalized circles is going to hurt kids,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten in an interview. “I felt the need to make it crystal clear to teachers … that I honor their professional responsibilities and that their union will have their back.”
Read the rest of the piece from EDWEEK here.