Last week I listened to the full June 22^nd meeting of the Kennewick School Board, all four-and-a-half hours.  The five-member Board governs a public school system of 18,800 students in the Tri-Cities area of Eastern Washington.

I was impressed with the Board members’ concern for protecting children as they grappled with the problem of getting harmful and poisonous Critical Race Theory (CRT) ideology out of the schools.

The public meeting was conducted without calling any parent a racist for expressing concerns.  The Board treated all community members, regardless of viewpoint, with respect and consideration.

The matter has some urgency for parents and families across the state.  In May 2021 Governor Jay Inslee signed SB 5044, to require that Critical Race Theory be introduced in all public K-12 elementary schools and high schools.  The hurtful curriculum tells students that children from white families are oppressors and children of other ethnicities are their victims.

The CRT program also includes assigning students books like “Anti-Racist Baby” by Ibram X. Kendi, and leading students to develop divisive racial self-identities and approved political opinions, while discouraging independent thinking.

The irony here is the public education system was originally created over one hundred years ago to forge an American civic identity and promote national pride in a diverse society that was welcoming new waves of immigration.  Public education was intended to promote community peace, not increased resentment and division.

The June meeting showed how hard Kennewick School Board members are working to protect their students from CRT.  They are drafting a new policy which includes these commonsense guidelines:

This is a good start, but more is needed.  Kennewick students also need protection from teachers using “social and emotional learning” to insert divisive CRT ideas into young minds.   

Teaching is a noble profession, meant to impart knowledge and wisdom to young minds.  Teaching is a position of trust, and should not be used to manipulate the emotions of children or promote political “social justice” agendas.  

Not everyone understands how strongly parents feel about CRT.  One editorial in the Tri-City Herald insists there is no CRT in Kennewick schools, and called the School Board members absurd for trying to protect children from harmful content.  

Hurtful efforts like CRT and SB 5044 help explain why so many parents are seeking safer alternatives.  Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia offer a wide range of school choice programs, and here in Washington HB 1633 was introduced in the last session of the legislature. This bill would offer a $10,000 per-child, per-year scholarship to families that ask for one, to attend a private, charter or other alternative school.

Whether Washington lawmakers eventually allow school choice, or continue the current monopoly model, schools are stronger and families are better served when caring school board members, like those in Kennewick, act to guard children from CRT and other damaging ideologies.