This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

The Honest Education

A group has recently formed in Guilford to oppose efforts in our schools to create an inclusive atmosphere, celebrate diversity, and provide an equitable educational experience for all our students. They misleadingly call themselves Truth in Education, though they themselves aren’t being truthful about the efforts going on in our schools. What this community and our students deserve is honesty in education.

We deserve honesty about the actual equity programs being implemented in our schools, namely hiring an equity liaison, investing in a teacher residency program, and a curriculum audit. We deserve honesty in the teaching of our nation’s history, even if it makes some uncomfortable. We deserve honesty in our civics and social studies, how policies and institutions can perpetuate harmful inequities, so our kids can build better ones. We deserve honesty in acknowledging the experiences and identities of all people, which affirms the existence and humanity of any student.

It is this honesty and context that can prepare our youth to participate in their future communities unhampered by ignorance, to live, and work, and contribute in the diverse world that waits for them. To provide only a limited, white-washed education devoid of multiple perspectives and experiences does a tremendous disservice to our children. Let’s support our educators’ ability to have uncensored, candid conversations with their students, to expand our children’s horizons, and to provide the honest education our youth deserve.

Lisa Kelly

Guilford