About 100 years ago a leading progressive made this comment about what they believed the goal of a university education should be, their response, “to make a son as unlike their fathers as possible.” This idea has not been confined to higher learning however. This, thankfully, has not been the belief of the vast majority of teachers and administrators in the history of Nebraska education either, and it is crucial that we make sure to guard against this pernicious idea. In Nebraska, we value the role of parents in the education of their children, every step of the way.
     On July 31st I held a hearing at the Capitol to get a better picture of the direction of public education in Nebraska in order to make sure we continue to have an education system aligned with the values of Nebraska parents. There were presenters at the hearing representing many different policy approaches. Many of my constituents and others across Nebraska have raised concerns over some things they notice changing in Nebraska schools. With that in mind we began some interim studies relating especially to how we can best advance parental, teacher and students’ rights in our ever-changing society.
     We must ensure transparency for parents, concerning their children’s curriculum, in this new, digital age. It was 1994 when the last parental rights statute was passed and much has changed since that day. Critical Race Theory (CRT), has been passed down to our schools from higher levels of academia. It sees reality through the prism of race and even in Nebraska there are reports of students made to feel ashamed of their race/ethnicity, for things they have not done. This is one way CRT (often changed to Culturally Relevant Teaching, since Critical Race Theory has negative connotations), is filtered down to our children. Parents must be able to access curriculum in a timely matter, and/or visit a classroom, so they can see if things like this are being taught in their school. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” CRT is a direct, biased attack on Dr. King’s quote.
     While a critical lens has exposed many of the biases of CRT, we have a lot of evidence that some folks are channeling the ideas of CRT into Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) practices. SEL, as originally imagined, may be a useful tool for our teachers and administrators. We must make sure it stays a useful tool if it is continued to be used in our public schools.
     Recently it has been found that some curriculum is even teaching our impressionable children to “Question Objective Reality” and “let their teacher’s instructions guide them” and “to question their own (the children) internal beliefs and associations.” Most of us probably see that this is wrong and even destructive and it brings us back to where we started, with the early 20th century progressive educator who wanted to “make a son as unlike their father as possible.”
     In Nebraska we value education and it is reflected in national studies which show us among the top third of states in education generally. Our model does not seek to diminish the parental role in education but to advance and enhance it. We must be diligent to protect parents’ rights which will protect students and teachers as well.