The most recent attack on education by the NYS Board of Regents
This week, the state Board of Regents continued its attack on New York education by promoting the teaching of revised DEI history in advance of America’s 250th anniversary celebration — all while many public schools struggle with teaching.
In this instance, the committee approved the launch of 40 videos to be displayed in “Revisit the Revolution” kiosks at state parks starting in February.
The videos, along with other narrative material, explore Indigenous and enslaved individuals who fought alongside the American colonists only to be betrayed at the end of the Revolutionary War.
One video on the treatment of Native Americans concludes with the highly questionable statement: “Since its founding, the United States has never upheld a treaty made with an Indigenous Nation.”
Even worse, next year the Regents plan to introduce a similarly biased new curriculum guide for teaching about the nation’s founding to schools across the state.
While the videos will be accessible online, SED officials aim to request additional funding to cover the expenses of student field trips to the kiosks based in state parks.
This is sheer madness.
After approving the revisionist videos, several Regents expressed concerns about facing further criticism similar to what occurred when they enforced Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.
According to reports, Chancellor Lester Young Jr. stated, “it’s crucial that we have the courage to do what is right” when pushing the DEI curriculum.
This coming from the leader of a panel that has backed away from maintaining higher graduation standards and more difficult state assessment tests.
True courage would be standing up to the teachers unions and demanding accountability, not concealing test results that reveal an increasing number of failing schools.
Courage would be addressing the issues of chronic absenteeism and pandemic-related learning setbacks, not choosing to stop tracking it.
Instead of self-indulgent arrogance, the Regents should focus on their primary mission of ensuring New York’s children have access to a high-quality education by imposing ideology on children and schools.
It’s not the crazies running the asylum, it’s the offenders running the courts.
