McAuliffe criticized online after saying he doesn't believe parents should tell schools what to teach

By HatetheSwamp

September 29, 2021 4:48 am

Category: Politics

(0.0 from 0 votes)

"I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach," McAuliffe, who previously served as governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, said during the debate in Alexandria, Virginia.

My sense is that many progressives can't see what the brouhaha is over McAuliffe's statement but it is pure Orwellian 1984 Big Brotherism.

There's no way that McAuliffe should lose this election but American conservatives are not in favor of fascism...and few independents favor it, either.

This could be the breaking point.

Cited and related links:

foxnews.com

Comments Start Below

The views and claims expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of SelectSmart.com.

Comments on "McAuliffe criticized online after saying he doesn't believe parents should tell schools what to teach"

by Donna on September 29, 2021 8:57 am
We don't tell our elected representatives what bills to vote for. Same for our elected representatives on school boards. As with Congress, we're free to petition our elected representatives, though. I guess you don't believe in representative democracy when it comes to school boards.

~~~
by Curt_Anderson on September 29, 2021 9:26 am
If parents are particular about what their kids are taught there is a simple solution for that: homeschool or private school.

Donna,
Legislatures is not the best analogy as I hope we have influence over how our legislators vote. To me a better analogy would be restaurants. If you don't like what a particular restaurant serves and how it's cooked you have the choice of either eating add an other restaurant or at home.

~~~
by Ponderer on September 29, 2021 9:32 am
We vote for school board members just as we do for members of Congress. The analogy is perfect.

~~~
by Curt_Anderson on September 29, 2021 10:19 am
Ponderer,
Here, at least, we don't vote for members of the school board members based on a curriculum they advocate. We don't have candidates with alternative views of slavery for example. Our school boards are about administration issues, especially finances.

~~~
by HatetheSwamp on September 29, 2021 11:59 am

People in the know suggest that one component of the GOP 022 landslide will be a Tea Party like backlash against arrogant school boards who seem to insist on foisting, among other things, CRT on unreceptive parents.

These are, after all, PUBLIC schools.

~~~
by Donna on September 30, 2021 11:30 am
Not everyone can afford to homeschool or send their kids to private school, Curt.

Back in the day, my parents were members of the PTA (Parent-Teachers Association). If there was ever dissatisfaction with the curriculum, that was where to air it.

By far, my most influential teacher was my 7th grade homeroom and American History teacher, Mrs. Hunley. My school was almost 100% White. Mrs. Hunley was Black. Probably none of my fellow classmates had ever had meaningful interaction with Black people. On the first day of school in 1968, 5 months after Dr. King was assassinated, I sat in homeroom and watched curiously as this middle-aged Black woman was walking in and out of the classroom. I thought she was a custodian or something - seriously.

She opened our eyes. She changed me forever. She taught us A LOT of Black history. I'm sure that she went outside of the established curriculum.

Very often, she very sincerely said to us "You are my little people, and I love you so".

Today she probably would have had to deal with frothing at the mouth right-wing bigots demanding her firing.

~~~
by HatetheSwamp on September 30, 2021 12:14 pm

Not everyone can afford to homeschool or send their kids to private school, Curt.

Bingo, Donna.

As I understand it, all this brouhaha about what's being taught in the schools that are owned by the PUBLIC is the remote learning necessitated by COVID restrictions.

Parents became aware of what was actually being taught with tax payer funds.

There's some arrogance behind the suggestion that people who pay school taxes need to homeschool or send their children to private school. That's precisely what parents think and it's why McAuliffe is in trouble.

The Fox gang discussed this yesterday on THE FIVE and argued over whether or not this was a gaffe. The consensus is that McAuliffe got in trouble for articulating what many to most Dems believe.

~~~
by Curt_Anderson on September 30, 2021 12:43 pm
"Not everyone can afford to homeschool or send their kids to private school, Curt."

Yes, that's why public schools were established. If a parent sends their kids to public school they have to expect that the curriculum will meet certain criteria and standards and they may not like everything about it.

Public schools are like public transportation. They are available to everybody and everybody benefits from them. Public transportation is a great service for anybody who can't drive or afford a car. But if you take the bus you cannot demand that the driver takes a specific route or shows up at you house at a particular time.

You said earlier that the elected school board is the place to determine curriculum. You seem to have amended that to be the PTA. That may be true. When our kids were in school we had the PTO which is probably the same as the PTA. I don't recall it ever being about curriculum issues. We mostly discussed parent volunteers helping in the classroom.

~~~
by Donna on October 1, 2021 12:16 am
I actually had to look up critical race theory. See the wiki link below.

Meh. Everything's a "social construct" nowadays - even gender. Frankly I'm sick and tired of it.

en.m.wikipedia.org

~~~
by HatetheSwamp on October 1, 2021 4:15 am

Public transportation is a great service for anybody who can't drive or afford a car. But if you take the bus you cannot demand that the driver takes a specific route or shows up at you house at a particular time.

Well, I've got to call bullfernerner on that, Curt. If I take the Market Street bus, I can demand that the driver take me to Market Street bus.

Actually, though, I think your comment is a non sequitur. Terry McAuliffe may be correct. (I don't think he is.)

The point is that over the course of this calendar year, several Virginia school board meetings have essentially erupted in riots over this issue. In some cases, the local constabulary was called in. Precisely over this issue.

Rachel hasn't been following this, I'm sure. So I don't blame you for being unaware.

McAuliffe didn't need to say what he said. He's just stoked the fire of the opposition in a year when low turnout should be fairly low.

~~~
by HatetheSwamp on October 1, 2021 4:28 am

Donna,

As I said to Curt, I don't blame you for not knowing what is going on here. McAuliffe's remark played on FNC from the time he said it through most of the next day. It was headline news.

As I said to Curt, several Virginia school board meetings this year have all but erupted in riots precisely over this issue.

No one I know who seems to understand CRT is offended by it but to have a seventh grade or tenth grade public school teacher splain it? Parental outrage seems to have come from witnessing what public school teachers are teaching...and, the tone deafness of school administrators, and school boards.

This is a huuuuuuuuge issue among many.

~~~
by Donna on October 1, 2021 8:52 am
I think grade school should focus on the basics, and that if you want to study something like CRT, then do that in college.

Mrs. Hunley taught us American History with an emphasis on Black history. As I remember, she didn't teach CRT.

I wouldn't have gotten militant about it if CRT was taught to my son in grade school, though. IMO too many Americans (all sides) are are allowing corporate and social media to tell them how they should feel about various issues, and as a result they're constantly being kept on a hair trigger.

~~~
by Curt_Anderson on October 1, 2021 9:34 am
"Well, I've got to call bullfernerner on that, Curt. If I take the Market Street bus, I can demand that the driver take me to Market Street bus." --HtS

Does the bus driver then put you in restraints or do the other passengers constrain you?

~~~
by HatetheSwamp on October 1, 2021 10:23 am

"Well, I've got to call bullfernerner on that, Curt. If I take the Market Street bus, I can demand that the driver take me to Market Street bus." --HtS

Does the bus driver then put you in restraints or do the other passengers constrain you?

Sorry. Huh?

~~~
by Donna on October 1, 2021 10:58 am
Why would you request that the Market Street bus take you to the Market Street bus?

~~~

Go To Top

* Anonymous comments are subject to approval before they appear.

McAuliffe criticized online after saying he doesn't believe parents should tell schools what to teach

Articles by category: