This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
12/27/2023 08:00 AM“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.” — Voltaire.
Case-in-point: Kendall Svengalis, who apparently learns nothing from elections (“Undermines the Agenda,” Nov. 30). His odious insults of Guilford Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Freeman display nonexistent impulse control. He’s still jabbering about Ibram Kendi. Do we need his pedantic lectures about Kendi’s decades-old writings? Must we read some former Branford school superintendent’s book? Whatever! Guilford’s schools are A-rated by Niche, a school-ranking service. Freeman was Connecticut’s 2021 Superintendent of the Year.
Svengalis’ last sentence displays “snowflake-in-avalanche” propensities: “Eviscerating the minority representation rule ensured that Freeman’s incompetence would not be questioned by an obedient Board of Education.”
For newcomers, the 2021 backstory: Guilford teachers read a controversial book. GOP conspiracy cops conflated reading it with teaching it. Five Republican Board of Education (BOE) candidates adopted a Critical-Race-Theory-in-the-curriculum (CRT) platform. That was debunked; the theory evolved. Before election day, some committee mass-mailed a flier that explained: “…CRT is not a class that is taught … but rather a lens, or philosophy that is woven through a student’s entire educational experience …” It described a dark “… process of re-education of the faculty” [through books they’d read].
Golly! Freeman… brainwashing teachers? Turning our (let’s be honest) mostly white students into anti-white racists? Such was the nonsense GOP candidates pitched in 2021. Five seats were contested. The minority representation rule limited Democrats to two candidates. Republicans could have gained multiple seats with five “traditional” candidates. They went with entertaining conspiracy theorists instead. Voters flocked to the polls. Two Democrats and three Independents were elected. All five Republican candidates lost by 2-1 margins.
So… Democrats and Independents conspiring to “eviscerate” minority representation? Or pragmatic voters rejecting crazy?
Any sentient snowflakes feeling introspective? Anyone?
Greg Kinsella
Guilford