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GOP attack on critical race theory is about winning elections while destroying public education. Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire write, “Where Reagan made a target of ethnic studies and tried to keep Angela Davis, a member of the Communist Party, from teaching philosophy at UCLA, today’s bogeyman is critical race theory or CRT—a legal theory that has become a vague catchall for grievances of the sort that Reagan weaponized so effectively.

“To date, laws aimed at restricting how public school teachers talk about race and racism have been proposed in 22 states and signed into law in five.

“In making the case for laws that are both vague and sweeping, Republicans have resuscitated one of Reagan’s favorite political insults: anti-American.” San Francisco Chronicle

The state of virtual schools. The National Education Policy Center has released its annual overview of the state of virtual schools in the U.S. “Some … technologies did, in fact, help educators connect with their students. But the nation’s experience with virtual technologies during the pandemic also revealed fundamental limitations of these approaches and spotlighted serious problems with the rosy vision of a bright new virtual future.” National Education Policy Center

How we’re fighting back

Los Angeles school community stands up to charter schools. Black and Latino parents, teachers, and students in Los Angeles are denouncing money grabbing by the charter school industry. Fight Back!

Community schools are expanding in Maryland. Since 2017, Baltimore’s Baltimore Highlands Elementary School has been in the process of becoming a community school. Last month, National Education Association president Becky Pringle visited, concluding, “This is a model that can, and should, be everywhere.” National Education Association

“The triumph of community schools.” Journalist Jeff Bryant writes, “Biden’s support [for community schools] suggests an end to government policies that blame teachers for low test scores.” The Progressive

Take action

Join Public Funds Public Schools for the webinar “Vouchers, Voter Suppression, and Other Vices: The Effort to Undermine Democracy and the Public Good” on July 1, 2021 at 3pm ET. Public Funds Public Schools

Photo by Gage Skidmore.

 

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