The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Schools must be welcoming to all children who enter
As I continue to write about joys and concerns relative to children and schools in our state, I would like to welcome and congratulate Connecticut’s newly appointed commissioner of education, Miguel Cardona, to this important position. Dr. Cardona’s past experiences as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, along with his personal beliefs and philosophy, have certainly prepared him for the challenges ahead.
He adamantly believes that curriculum should never come between teacher and student, and yet our state’s current financial inequality, corporate curriculum control, along with disregard for child development and individuality, certainly do get between teacher and student. Think of it as a wall that keeps students from being fully welcomed in their schools unless they can navigate the strands of curriculum demands often developmentally inappropriate yet used to judge the child’s potential and even the teacher’s ability.
Teachers seemed to be used as foot soldiers in an illegitimate conflict that has been brought against innocent children just trying to grow and learn. Unfortunately, the systemically biased curriculum and administrative hierarchy, themselves pressured by oversight, feed frustrations that ignite varying levels of biased attitudes, often racist, as a defense by educators being judged by a rigged curriculum and policies.
In May, Barbara Dalio, cochairwoman of Dalio Philanthropies, and state American Federation of Teachers President Jan Hochidal, in a lovely tribute to teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, suggested that teachers often shape the trajectory of their students lives. Yes, they do, but not always in positive ways. That same month, education advocate Wendy Lecker’s column entitled, “Policies harm children of color,” cited that our socalled education reform, with its developmentally inappropriate curriculum, narrowed learning and rigid approaches, limits true
I believe that focusing on issues of poverty, limited resources and trauma, though very important, in education can be a form of victim blame.
learning especially in young children, often leading to disproportionate punitive treatment, police involvement and even arrests of minority and disabled students.
Last year, the veto of the School Safety Law by thenGov. Dannel P. Malloy was upheld by the Legislature due to the pressures of child advocacy groups, parents, the state’s child advocate, Sara Eagan, and thenCommissioner of Education Diane Wentzel. The former commissioner bravely cited that studies (ACLU) show white teachers judge behavior of same race students more favorably than nonwhite children. She added the bill as written would increase already disproportionate racial bias against minority students.
Activist Amy Hunter, in a talk at Pasadena’s All Saints’ Church in 2018, entitled “What white folks don’t know,” noted “poverty is not necessarily traumatic, we’ve been poor a long time and it’s not that traumatic.” I believe that focusing on issues of poverty, limited resources and trauma, though very important, in education can be a form of victim blame. Yes, while many things contribute to an achievement gap, let’s stop tiptoeing around the elephant in the room, which in this case is white. Let’s also consider that schools can be and may often be the source of a student’s trauma. As columnist Charles Blow wrote in the New York Times, “Denying racism supports it.”
Let’s hope Cardona’s commitment to teachers, students and collaborative approaches will help schools begin to provide welcoming learning environments for all children.
Janet Hutchins is a retired Connecticut teacher.