Those individuals who dedicate their lives and careers as teachers and librarians are facing a crisis unseen in American history.
The Republican Party and the extreme right wing has declared war on teachers and librarians, promoting censorship and direct threats against those who promote free inquiry and tolerance!
The move of some state and local governments, and of some right wing media, such as Fox News Channel, One America News Network (OANN) and NewsMax, to threaten lawsuits and loss of employment to those who educate our children and to ban books and other materials some find objectionable, is an attack on the Bill of Rights and the promotion of truth and facts!
No wonder many teachers and librarians are leaving their professions, as state laws in Texas, Florida and elsewhere allow for parents or others to begin lawsuits, when such people are not qualified to dictate what the curriculum should be in schools, or to ban books and other materials on book shelves in libraries!
Does anyone promote that medical doctors, attorneys, accountants and others be subjected to ignorant parents and extremist elements to dictate their fields of work and what are acceptable policies and programs?
This blogger and author could not imagine trying to teach in the public schools at any level in today’s environment, where not only is there conflict over teaching of “Social Studies” and “Science”, but also even Literature, Foreign Languages, and most crazily, Mathematics!
Why should the state of Florida, for instance, be able to ban certain Math textbooks on the crazy idea that they contain CRT (Critical Race Theory), and they do not have any connection at all?
How can anyone deal with students at any level in any curriculum field without recognizing the role of teachers and librarians in educating students on issues of race and sexuality, which are and will be dominant factors in their future lives?
This attack on educators and librarians is a movement toward totalitarian and authoritarian Fascism, and the battle against such evil is joined, and must be fought to ultimate victory!