CRT Is Here, in McHenry County Schools

By Rich Rostron
11/12/21

School boards across the country are denying that they are pushing Critical Race Theory (CRT) in their schools, yet the evidence is irrefutable, and it's all around us.

Nov. 2, elections around the country provided a harsh rebuke for Democrats based on their handling of the economy, including inflation and cargo ships backing up unloaded off our shores, the Southern border and illegal immigration, the grossly mishandled withdrawal from Afghanistan and more. One of the chief issues driving voters at the polls, however, was the way public schools are pushing Leftist policies.

The election of Republican Glenn Youngkin, the first statewide election of a republican in the state in more than a decade, is widely recognized as a response to the unwillingness of school boards in the state to listen to the concerns of parents about what their children are being taught.

The schools in McHenry County may deny that they're teaching CRT, but evidence is all around us. And we don't have to go to the schools to find it; go out into the community and speak with teenagers, whether currently attending high school or junior high, or those who recently graduated. You may find yourself startled by the perspectives you hear.

I've found it amazing when a teenager has tried to lecture me on the morality of race or gender but then demonstrates an inability to make change at the cash register. This is demonstrative of misguided priorities in our schools.

It's not just that they should do a better job teaching the 3Rs, 'Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic; it's also that they shouldn't be teaching our children what to think.

When you teach children what to think, that isn't education; that's indoctrination. And it's not hyperbole to say so.

And when you teach children what to think, you're demonstrating a lack of confidence in the positions you seek to 'teach.' If you had sufficient faith in your positions, you would have confidence that, when presented with the available facts, those who know how to think for themselves will arrive at the same conclusion.

In other words, those who believe in their positions aren't afraid to have someone question their positions. But whether those pushing forms of Leftism in our schools believe in the indoctrination they drive or not, really isn't the question.

Do schools have a right to push any agenda? Would conservatives want the schools to push conservatism?

Some conservatives would probably welcome that. I personally believe children should be taught why America is a great country - a great country in spite of her warts, big and small.

America is a country with a conscience. That isn't proved because we had slavery; it's proved because we fought our most bloody war to end slavery. It's proved because Jim Crow and Segregation ultimately failed.

There is still work to be done but telling children what to think, rather than how to think, is never the answer. In the meantime, ensuring that they have the ability to think, and that they've learned their 3Rs, is our responsibility. This is where we provide them with the tools to succeed in life.