Although pitchforks and clubs may not be in plain sight during stops of the Raise Our Standards tour, an undercurrent of the angry mob is alive and well.

The Center of the American Experiment conservative think tank is hosting presentations across Minnesota to, in its words: “counter the ‘woke’ political movement invading Minnesota’s public schools, turning them into ideological battlegrounds and threatening the quality of our children’s education.”

The tour came to Mankato on June 9 and continues throughout the month. The topic at hand is Minnesota’s social study standards, which are in the process of being updated as they are every 10 years. The center’s objection is that including anything that resembles critical race theory in the standards would somehow undermine all other social studies content.

That, of course, is not the state Department of Education’s intention — and the tour organizers know it. Assistant Education Commissioner Bobbie Burnham said the document contains 22 broad standards and some prospective benchmarks for each. The benchmarks are examples and aren’t intended to be exhaustive. World wars and other events of historical significance absolutely will continue to be taught in public schools, Burnham said.

The first draft simply focuses on additions and revisions under consideration. A second more complete draft will be released later this summer.

Of course, the center’s presenters mostly preach to the choir during its sessions, but for those audience members who go intending to become informed, they are being taken advantage of. The center’s tour isn’t meant to inform. It is meant to incite. The center doesn’t present facts in context. It feeds audiences inflammatory statements. The center’s presentation doesn’t attempt to find common ground. It repeats buzzwords that the right-wing movement is equating with “indoctrination,” so terms such as equity, equality and social justice take on a negative connotation.

Education Week describes critical race theory as an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.

As East High School social studies teacher Tim Meegan said at the local presentation, most social studies teachers already have been working to give their students a broader prospective and is he is happy the state social study standards are being updated to reflect that. “Any history teacher who is worth their salt is already teaching that,” he said.

Conflicts over critical race theory are playing out in cities and towns across the country, amid the rise of at least 165 local and national groups that aim to disrupt lessons on race and gender, according to an NBC News analysis of media reports and organizations’ promotional materials.

公众被th策略驱动的牺牲品ese political operatives who are using them to push their agenda. In Brainerd it was clear a resident was parroting what he’d been fed, and he decided to add threats to his rant. As reported by the Brainerd Dispatch, he told the School Board last week: “The CRT (critical race theory), I mean, that’s demonic. That is crazy. … I don’t know if we’re gonna get anywhere with this, but I will be back here to dump hot coals on all your heads. That’s not a mean thing to do. I don’t know how many of you read the Bible, in the Bible it talks about that. If you are wrong and if you’re on the wrong side, it’s gonna hurt.”

School boards don’t even set the standards; the state does with plenty of opportunity for the public to contribute input. (More information on the process can be found ateducation.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/soc).

The Center of the American Experiment is claiming to empower parents and citizens to fight back against the “woke” movement. Instead, citizens need to wake up to the fact they are being used to advance a political agenda rather than focusing on comprehensive education for all students.

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