Only Marxists Need Apply

In Minnesota, a new rule relating to certification of teachers is in process. As I understand it, the rule has proceeded without legislative action and ultimately will come before an administrative law judge who will (I assume) approve it, absent enormous public outcry. The rule provides that you can’t be licensed as a teacher in Minnesota unless you subscribe to neo-Marxist theories of race, gender and so on.

You have to read it to believe it:

Subpart 1. Standard 1. Student learning.​

B. The teacher understands multiple theories of identity formation and knows​ how to help students develop positive social identities based on their membership in multiple​ groups in society.​
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D. The teacher fosters an environment that ensures student identities such as​ race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation,​ physical/developmental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are​ historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning​ environment where students are empowered to learn and contribute as their whole selves.

E. The teacher understands and supports students as they recognize and process​ dehumanizing biases, discrimination, prejudices, and structural inequities.​
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C. The teacher understands bias in assessment, evaluates standardized and​ teacher-created assessments for bias, and designs and modifies assessments that minimize​ sources of bias.​
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E. The teacher plans how to achieve each student’s learning goals by choosing​ anti-racist, culturally relevant, and responsive instructional strategies, accommodations,​ and resources to differentiate instruction for individuals and groups of learners.​

F. The teacher features, highlights, and uses resources written and developed by​ traditionally marginalized voices that offer diverse perspectives on race, culture, language,​ gender, sexual identity, ability, religion, nationality, migrant/refugee status, socioeconomic​ status, housing status, and other identities traditionally silenced or omitted from curriculum.​
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H. The teacher creates opportunities for students to learn about power, privilege,​ intersectionality, and systemic oppression in the context of various communities and​ empowers learners to be agents of social change to promote equity.​
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H. The teacher encourages critical thinking about culture and race and includes​ missing narratives to dominant culture in the curriculum.​
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C. The teacher understands the historical foundations of education in Minnesota,​ including laws, policies, and practices, that have and continue to create inequitable​ opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for learners, especially for Indigenous students​ and students historically denied access, underserved, or underrepresented on the basis of​ race, class, gender, sexual orientation, language, socioeconomic status, or country of origin.​

D. The teacher understands how prejudice, discrimination, and racism operates​ at the interpersonal, intergroup, and institutional levels.​

E. The teacher explores their own intersecting social identities and how they​ impact daily experience as an educator.​

F. The teacher assesses how their biases, perceptions, and academic training may​ affect their teaching practice and perpetuate oppressive systems and utilizes tools to mitigate​ their own behavior to disrupt oppressive systems.​

G. The teacher uses a variety of self-assessment and problem-solving strategies​ to analyze and reflect on their practice and to make adaptations and adjustments toward​ more equitable outcomes.​
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Subp. 8. Standard 8. Racial consciousness and reflection.​

A. The teacher understands multiple theories of race and ethnicity, including but​ not limited to racial formation, processes of racialization, and intersectionality.​

B. The teacher understands the definitions of and difference between prejudice,​ discrimination, bias, and racism.​

C. The teacher understands how ethnocentrism, eurocentrism, deficit-based​ teaching, and white supremacy undermine pedagogical equity.​

D. The teacher understands that knowledge creation, ways of knowing, and​ teaching are social and cultural practices shaped by race and ethnicity, often resulting in​ racially disparate advantages and disadvantages.​

E. The teacher understands the histories and social struggles of historically defined​ racialized groups, including but not limited to Indigenous people, Black Americans, Latinx​ Americans, and Asian Americans.​

F. The teacher understands the cultural content, world view, concepts, and​ perspectives of Minnesota-based American Indian Tribal Nations and communities, including​ Indigenous histories and languages.​

G. The teacher understands the impact of the intersection of race and ethnicity​ with other forms of difference, including class, gender, sexuality, religion, national origin,​ immigration status, language, ability, and age.​

Personally, I wouldn’t allow a “teacher” who “understands” those things within 100 yards of one of my kids.

Where does the impetus for this kind of evil come from? Certainly not from parents, students or citizens generally. The extreme left-wingers who orchestrate this kind of revolution without ever having to bring it on for a vote are experts at manipulating bureaucratic processes, always with the complicity of a worthless press.

If these proposed licensing changes are implemented, no sane person will want to be a teacher in Minnesota. Only an aroused and organized populace can stop this extremist demand that we all become neo-Marxists. My organization will lead the charge to defeat this terrible evil.

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