Coalition condemns attacks on teachers, curriculum
Educators across Connecticut are taking a collective stance against a recent blitz on teachers addressing race and controversial topics in local schools.
This week, a coalition of teachers, superintendents and school boards released a letter condemning attacks on Connecticut educators regarding curriculum.
The unified statement comes as small but vocal groups across Connecticut in places like Guilford and Greenwich have spoken up at school board meetings, protested, and run for local Boards of Education in opposition to course materials and diversity programs.
“We celebrate our educators’ efforts over the last 20 months,” read the coalition letter. “We strongly defend their professional judgment, and we denounce the egregious attacks on their right to teach.”
In recent months, a national debate has popped up in Connecticut over who should have the greatest say over K-12 curriculum.
Some parents, who got more involved in their children’s education while school was online, disapproved of what they saw. Those families spoke out against course material they said rewrote history, books they deemed inappropriate, and programs they thought promoted white guilt — and urged school officials to change the curriculum.
Arguably no where has that been more apparent than in Guilford, a predominantly white town that has received national attention for conflict over how its schools have confronted racism and inequality after a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, prompting protests across the country.
“There have been suggestions in Guilford that teachers were indoctrinating students in some sort of progressive ideology, or there was a political agenda,” said superintendent Paul Freeman, whose school board recently wrapped an election polarized by misinformation
and the alleged teaching of critical race theory. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Freeman said the school district’s curriculum was made to give teachers, as professional educators, latitude to tailor it to their classrooms — while also providing checks and supports like instructional materials and coaches.
“That’s not a bug,” he said. “That’s a feature of our design.”
Regina Sullivan, president of the Guilford Education Association, added the teachers are prepared to meet the task.
“They can all present these discussions and information in a thoughtful manner to help kids decipher vast amounts of information,” Sullivan said. “We’re not trying to get them to see things one way or another. We’re educating them how to look at any topic, then make their own conclusions.”
But the impact, Guilford educators have found, is that some parents disapprove of the decisions school staff make. And in the shoreline town, those families have organized and made their criticisms known.
The superintendent lamented the repercussions.
“To think that our teachers are feeling a chilling effect, are feeling attacked or afraid to do what’s right in the classroom for their kids, is really disappointing,” Freeman said.
In Greenwich, teacher concerns reached an apex and prompted local educators, joined by roughly 100
union members, to host a march last month. The demonstration, held before a school board meeting, featured signs reading: “Stop Attacking Teachers,” “Stop Harassing Teachers” and “We Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
“These attacks have taken an ugly and personal turn,” the Greenwich teachers union president Lillian Perone said in a statement, “with ‘Patriots’ targeting some of our distinguished and highly respected teachers, threatening their employment, and making defamatory statements against them.”
Those Patriots she referenced, a local group called the Greenwich Patriots, have pushed back against curriculum they believe is “highly politicized, sexually-explicit, profanity-laced and racially-charged,” said Jackie Homan, one of its leaders.
“We are grateful the vast majority of Greenwich teachers are strong partners with parents to educate our children,” she said. “However, we have been forced to highlight specific instances of specific teachers teaching unauthorized content to better illustrate our concerns. Parents are not ‘threatening’ or ‘targeting’ anyone.”
Superintendent Toni Jones said her educators deserve to feel safe and supported at work.
“Some behaviors by adults that have been witnessed goes against every norm we utilize with our students: shouting at others, attacking individuals on social media, and a general lack of civility,” Jones said in a statement, but added most families show staff they are appreciated.
Both superintendents in
Greenwich and Guilford expressed appreciation for the state organizations speaking out in support of their teachers.
The letter, circulated on Thursday, said classrooms need to be “safe havens” where students engage with high-quality curriculum — “even if some lessons are difficult and uncomfortable,” it read.
It was co-signed by the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, the Connecticut Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut, the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
The organizations suggested teachers must be allowed to do their jobs so students can become critical thinkers, succeed in their careers, and make their towns, Connecticut and this country better places.