Letter: The Failing Acronyms of CRT, DEI, and SEL
We need to be very careful when selecting candidates for election to the Board of Education on November 7th. In particular, what curriculum they approve to be taught at Amity is critical. Amity was ranked first in the state of Connecticut in 2014, but its rank has been dropping over the years and now stands at 39th. It is clear that we need to elect Board of Education members who will put the emphasis back on academics. We need to support our educators who want to teach reading, writing and arithmetic.
During the last four years, the toxic, racist ideology of Critical Race Theory (CRT), has evolved into a Social and Emotional Learning curriculum (SEL) known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This has crept into our public-school systems through its school curricula via teacher training programs. Words like “equity,” “social justice,” “diversity and inclusion,” and “culturally responsive teaching” sound harmless and pleasing, but their actual definitions are different than what they commonly mean. For example, Equity sounds non-threatening and is easily confused with the American principle of equality. But the distinction is vast and important. Equity is guaranteeing that the outcome is the same for everyone. In order to achieve equity, you have to give more to those who aren’t “equal” by taking from those with “more” until they equal the lowest common denominator. When you treat classes of people differently in order to achieve equity, that clearly sounds like other words we know—racism and discrimination. Equality of opportunity on the other hand, means that everyone is given the opportunity to excel and that those who need the extra help are given it, without taking opportunity away from others to do so and there is no limit to what you can achieve. The Amity Board of Education, at the recommendation of the Superintendent, approved eliminating honors classes in the name of Equity. When they reject equality, they are rejecting the principle proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, defended in the Civil War, and codified into law with the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Equity translates into aspiring for mediocrity. As a result, our children are being dragged down when in fact, they need to be lifted up. They deserve better.
