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Gone Too Far

In response to the article "Parents Threaten Lawsuit Over CRT Claims“ (Sept. 1):

This has gone too far. After losing their race for Board of Education )BOE) positions last fall by a margin of 2:1, the Row B candidates are back, threatening a lawsuit against our town and BOE. It should be a concern for every Guilford tax payer that a tiny group of parents is now forcing the town to fund a legal defense, and an outrage for every parent that the opinions of a few will now distract our administration from the needs of all.

The five parents have hired lawyer Norm Pattis, who recently represented conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in his defamation case about the Sandy Hook school shooting. Here, our local conspiracy theorists allege that Guilford Public Schools (GPS) is teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT), something GPS has addressed directly and repeatedly in all types of public formats to say, again and again, that they are not teaching CRT. CRT is taught at the graduate school level, not K to12, but accusations of CRT have been used across the country by the far right to usher in laws that prohibit schools from engaging in anything that supports equity and inclusivity. What’s wrong with equity and inclusivity? The vast majority of Guilford parents want their children to have an education that respects these ideals. They have signed petitions, posted lawn signs, and lobbied the BOE for exactly this!

Guilford Public Schools is one of the highest ranked systems in the state. Our Superintendent and (volunteer!) BOE are phenomenal. I hope our town can rally behind them to squash these ridiculous accusations so that they can get back to the business of teaching.

Kristine Ford

Guilford