Only Leftists Can Teach

That the Left has taken over public education (and most private education) in America is common knowledge. But the extent to which it has solidified its grip, and is in the process of driving out all non-conforming thought, may not be.

An instance of this, in Minnesota, is the currently pending revisions to teacher licensure rules. The rules are being amended so that no one can be licensed as a teacher in the state, in either public or private schools, unless he or she at least pretends to agree with Leftist orthodoxy. I doubt that any legislature would adopt such rules by statute, but here, as in many other instances, a far-left governor can appoint a far-left panel or commission to devise rules that then are approved by an administrative law judge.

In this case, citizens alerted by Center of the American Experiment registered overwhelming opposition to the proposed teacher licensure revisions, but the ALJ required only a few modifications. A revised version has been submitted and likely will become law in July. American Experiment’s Catrin Wigfall has the story. Proposed revisions are shown:

The teacher features, highlights, and uses demonstrates the ability to feature, highlight, and use 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 by offering a wide range of curriculum materials.

The teacher encourages Consistent with the local curriculum and state and local academic standards, the teacher demonstrates the ability to nurture critical thinking about culture and race and includes knows how to include multiple perspectives and missing narratives to from the dominant culture in the by offering a range of curriculum materials.

This is the kicker: in order to teach in Minnesota, you will need to sign on to theories of “power, privilege, intersectionality, and systemic oppression,” and teach students to be left-wing activists:

Consistent with the local curriculum and state and local academic standards, the teacher creates demonstrates the ability to create 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.

So unless a prospective teacher promises to inculcate students in trendy far-left dogma, he or she won’t be licensed in Minnesota. We all know that our country is in trouble, but the rot goes far deeper than most realize.