Public education in Minnesota is broken. Schools are sacrificing not only safety for social justice, but also education, Sheila Qualls explains in a new episode of “Trapped!: Chaos in the Classroom.”
In episode three, Qualls walks listeners through the ideological agenda of public school teachers and administrators in Minnesota.
Test scores are declining in districts across the state. In Minneapolis, only one in three students are proficient in math. Just 42% of students are reading at grade level.
“Schools are willing to systematically sacrifice student safety in the name of racial statistics,” said Max Eden, a research fellow at American Enterprise Institute. “So if you have a set of institutions that are willing to sacrifice the safety and stability of children for the sake of their ideology, then you have to ask: well, what else are they willing to sacrifice for their ideology?”
The answer: education.
Eden said phonemic awareness is by far the best method for teaching reading.
But for years, reading has been taught using whole-language or balanced-literacy models under the reasoning that teaching phonics is a “political” approach.
Eden explained that schools of education are “convinced politically that phonics is an inherently conservative or Republican approach to reading, and that their student-based … whole-language model is much more in touch with childhood, more in touch with proper feelings, and can spark joy and passion.”
Math, too, is sacrificed “on the altar of ideology,” Eden said.
“How do you get to the point ideologically where you make that claim, that showing your work and going by a rigorous, mathematical method is part of white supremacism?” he asked. “Then you realize, they define the fundamentals of the way the world is structured, socially and even in terms of math and science, as oppression, as white supremacy.”
“If you can see white supremacism, racism, or fascism in math, then you can see it everywhere,” he added.
Gender ideology
“Social justice isn’t just about race; it’s about gender, too. Kids are learning that they can choose their gender regardless of biology, and if their parents aren’t on board, teachers will be,” Qualls explains.
More districts are adopting policies that allow students to socially transition at school without parental consent.
Dave, a parent in South Washington County Schools, said his child “felt like he was in the wrong body and wanted to change his name.”
“We were contacted by Woodbury High School and they asked us if we were OK with a name change,” Dave said. He told administrators they didn’t have permission to change his child’s name and pronouns in school records. Dave said they changed his kid’s name and pronouns anyway.
“It was just like a slap in the face,” Dave said. “They’re not sitting in on counseling sessions with us. We’ve been dealing with these mental health issues for five, six years and it has nothing to do with any of this gender stuff.”
The district told Alpha News that it always does its “best to work and engage with our parents and families.” They referred Alpha News to district policies, including a name and gender request form, which states that it is “best practice,” but not required, to “consult with the student’s parents before modifying/amending existing records.”
Qualls speaks with several more parents, students, and teachers from districts across the state in this episode of “Trapped!: Chaos in the Classroom.”
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Rose Williams
Rose Williams is an assistant editor for Alpha News.
