Recently I’ve been hearing about the radicalization of new teachers who graduated from the University of New Hampshire. For instance, one of these newly certified teachers came to work in a New Hampshire school and proceeded to call the teachers she worked with, racists.
These were seasoned teachers who gave her no indication that they were racist in their thoughts or actions, but because they were white, this new (and white) teacher insisted that they were all racists simply because of the color of their skin. Because my source is a teacher in New Hampshire, I agreed to keep the names of the individuals involved, and the school district confidential. I’ve heard of a few other examples similar to this.
Is this a pattern or are these isolated incidents? I’m not sure at this point, but I’d like to draw your attention to some changes UNH would like to make to their elementary teacher program.
Related: CRT: A Teacher Explains What She Sees Happening In Her District.
If you click on this link to the New Hampshire State Board of Education meeting dated July 8th, then scroll down to the materials from UNH asking for a substantive change request, you will see that they are requesting a change to the undergraduate pathway to certification for Elementary Education.
Under the new pathway proposed, students will complete a B.A. in Educational Studies: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. But what exactly does this mean? It doesn’t appear that they provided any details. They did mention a teacher shortage, but I’m not sure if this change is supposed to be addressing that problem. If it is, how would this change impact the shortage?
Is this more Critical Race Theory indoctrination for our future teachers?
What does their program look like compared to a program for elementary education majors at an academic-focused college like Hillsdale College? Here are their requirements for college students studying to become teachers:
Can you see how Hillsdale is preparing its future teachers for success in the classroom by making sure their graduates are educated in the academic content? A well-educated teacher in the classroom will bring your children the knowledge they need to also be successful. This not only sets teachers up for success but your children too.
A few years ago, an elementary teacher confided in me that she had to ask her fiance to re-teach her basic math concepts. She received a teaching degree from UNH but when applying for the Master’s Program, she lacked some basic math skills. One might ask, how on earth did she graduate from college, earn a degree to teach in our schools, but did not have basic math skills? You can point to the schools of education, and in this case, you can point to UNH for that failure. Maybe if UNH was less focused on radicalizing teachers and more focused on giving them the knowledge and skills to be successful in the classroom, that wouldn’t be the case.
For years college math professors I work with have complained about the quality of graduates coming out of our schools of education. Instead of working to improve that reputation, UNH appears to be doubling down on this failure.
If you care about the quality of our future teachers, I would suggest sending an email to the New Hampshire State Board of Education members, asking them to reject this change. Send the message back to UNH that we expect more from our schools of education.
