Kerby Anderson

Students fell behind in their schoolwork during the pandemic because of the limitations of online learning. But instead of working to remediate students, some school districts implemented social-emotional learning. It did not help. Instead, it hurt students and provided another forum for teachers to push radical ideologies in the classroom. Many parents have embraced the fight against critical race theory and other radical programs. But it isn’t as easy to identify the threats coming from programs that are couched in therapeutic language. A review of social-emotional learning materials by the group Parents Defending Education confirmed the concerns of parents who provided the material. They argue that mental-health language is being used to advance ideas about race, gender, and sexuality. Even when the material isn’t promoting a radical agenda, parents are asking why teachers are taking valuable class time away from important subjects. Traci Spiegel, whose son needed educational help, asked: “Where is the algebra? Where is the biology? Where is the English?” Though a life-long Democrat, she became concerned after her son started complaining about the weekly social-justice-heavy lessons involving social-emotional learning. She was also shocked to see what was on the quizzes for her son and daughter. A teacher in another school district finally pulled one of her kids out of the school system. She concluded that her daughter “basically didn’t have math for a year.” And even when a class did focus on mathematics, the first half of the class was often devoted to a talk about Black Lives Matter “almost every single day.” The class even skipped an important unit of Algebra because they “didn’t have time.” Parents are going to have to pay attention to what their children are learning, as well as pay attention to the subjects they aren’t learning.