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Enough

A small, hostile, misinformed local group is harassing the teachers and administrators of our public schools. This must stop! Echoing the warning Superintendent of Guilford Public Schools Dr. Paul Freeman gave at the May 9 Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Barth Keck, a veteran teacher at Haddam-Killingworth High School said, “How sad that now I find myself thinking ever more frequently about my ‘way out of’ a career I have loved for three decades. Such is the state of teaching in 2022.” Guilford cannot afford to lose its best educators.

Many may have thought that November 2021’s resounding defeat of the GOP “anti-Critical Race Theory” (CRT) candidates would end the nasty drumbeat of their campaign. The election said, “Enough! Let our teachers do their jobs.”

Instead, this small group of disruptors uses the Guilford Public Schools email list to harass faculty, staff, and board. No one deserves to get malicious work-related emails, often sent well out of normal work hours. Teachers do not deserve blasts of baseless and hurtful accusations against their profession and/or administration. Neither does our volunteer BOE.

After two plus years of COVID, our schools are facing challenges that require the full attention of teachers, administrators, mental health professionals, parents, and broader communities.

The baseless harassment by the “anti-CRT” faction continues to distract our educators from what they need and want to be doing. This mostly anonymous group of 10 to 15 people is making the end of the school year hellish rather than joyful. Our educators should be free to plan their course work for the coming school year without the specter of harassment undermining their hopes for a better year for their students — our children.

Civil discourse is a democratic right; harassment is not. Guilford needs to say “Enough” loudly and firmly.

Tim Sperry

Guilford