Letter to Department of Education
April 20, 2023
Dear
We understand that the mission in the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
Being a member of a religious Congregation of Sisters, we are mindful of the history of our own foundress who was a member of the first community of Black Sisters in the US in the early 1800s. Because “colored” children could not be educated, these Sisters started a school for them anyway—it was in Baltimore, Maryland. The Sisters themselves were told that they should be taking in washing and doing housework, not teaching. They did it anyway and suffered for it. The twenty-first century is another era. Today it is the goal of education to deliver a comprehensive and rigorous education for every student regardless of race, color, creed, and sexual orientation. The Department of Education’s mission statement includes, “prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.”
Our concern at this time in history is the culture wars. A relatively small percentage of very outspoken and angry parents across the country are fostering a narrative that is not held by the majority of parents. I am referring to the speech given by Mr. Nathan Monell, the Executive Director of the National PTA, when addressing the American Federation of Teachers in 2022. This narrative as cited statistically by Mr. Monell, is divisive and discriminatory and not related to what is happening in our classrooms. The Office of Civil Rights enforces several Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs and activities that receive federal funds. This group cares nothing for laws, rights, equal access, or factual information. The idea that “my child should not have to feel bad” in classes that teach the history of racism in the US is, at most, a shame on them. They miss the fact that for more than a century, Black children and children of other races, ethnicities, and genders have had to endure oppression and discrimination in their schools day after day and up to today. A 2019 equity audit of Loudoun County, VA, Public Schools found that students of color faced a hostile learning environment that includes racial insults or slurs.
Courses that Governor Ron DeSantis is trying to eliminate, books that the small, vociferous minority are trying to ban from school libraries are symptoms of challenges that teachers and students are facing. Whitewashing of our history does everyone a disservice. There is no factual teaching of US history without truthfully embracing our failings as well as our achievements.
Our citizens are being assailed with controversy whipped up by small groups. Monell’s speech is balanced, it was truthful, it is backed up by statistics, it is engaging for everyone who is concerned with the false narratives and fear-based attacks on teachers, curriculum, and books. Mr. Monell said that there are 57% of students of color in our schools. Do they deserve to be taught the truth? Should the white students not have to feel bad? Students in Massachusetts have recently held walkouts to protest racial incidents in their schools. Protests by students, teachers, and parents are on the rise across the country. We must be faithful to the mission that promises prohibition of discrimination and equal access to education.
One final quote from Mr. Monell’s speech: “68% of parents worry about politicians (who are not educators) making decisions about what happens in the classroom.”
Our purpose in writing this letter to you? We implore you to share Mr. Monell`s speech throughout the nation through every form of media and social media. Mr. Monell’s message is powerful, and can serve to educate all, including our politicians.
https://www.aft.org/convention/2022-monell
Respectfully submitted,
Sister Ancilla Maloney, IHM
Sister John Michele Southwick, IHM
Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM
Sister Jane Snyder, IHM
Sisters of IHM
IHM Center
2300 Adams Avenue
Scranton, PA 18509
