Ken Blackwell publishes column about AIM’s work in Ohio
February 3, 2023
Originally published at the Northwest Signal
Blackwell on school choice
Ken Blackwell | February 2, 2023
Public school administrators wield a great deal of power over our children’s lives – too much power. The only solution is school choice.
A recent undercover investigation in Ohio by the watchdog group Accuracy in Media (AIM) underscores the troubling arrogance of administrators who think they know best what values and lessons children should be taught – better than the elected officials who set curriculum guidelines, and better even than those children’s parents.
The investigation took place last year, when Ohio lawmakers were contemplating legislation to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) – a radical pedagogy that essentially encourages students to judge others based on the color of their skin – in public schools. Posing as parents interested in enrolling their children in the local public schools, AIM investigators got administrators to speak frankly about how they would handle such a restriction.
It turns out, they had no intention of abiding by the intent of the law. Rather, as one administrator put it, they determined that there was “more than one way to skin a cat” – in other words, they would find a way to skirt the ban and expose children to CRT anyhow.
Another administrator had an even more disturbing take when discussing parents who oppose having their children taught divisive concepts in school. Complaining that those parents just “don’t fully understand,” she said the solution is simply to “trick them” by pretending to observe the ban while covertly teaching children CRT behind the backs of parents and lawmakers alike.