Millwood Public Schools Home

May 11, 2021

 

MILLWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS SET TO DENOUNCE GOVERNOR STITT’S
SUPPORT OF HB 1775 AND RECOMMEND THAT SCHOOLS ACROSS THE
STATE INTENTIONALLY DIVERSIFY CLASSROOM LITERATURE TO
ADDRESS THE ABSENCE CREATED IN DIALOGUE BY HB 1775

 

Millwood Public Schools Administration and Board of Education are deeply concerned that Governor Stitt saw fit to sign HB 1775 into law despite numerous objections from communities around Oklahoma to veto it. The law at face value simply states that teachers may not teach Critical Race Theory in public schools, an unnecessary solution to a problem that is non-existent to Superintendents across the state and likely a directive from the Republican National Party, as other states including Texas, Indiana and others are passing the same similar measures. According to the Governor, per his press conference, after the Bill was signed, there is no race or gender issue, except for the ones that are taught or shared by teachers in our classrooms across the state.

 

We at Millwood Public Schools believe that all people are innately good, as I am certain most of us do. We understand that there are always outlying teachers and employees that make mistakes and use language that should not be used in a classroom setting, this law however will not prevent that. Instead, it will muzzle teachers on an already sensitive topic to likely avoid or restrict crucial conversations.

 

America is a beautiful collection of many cultures. This law limits our ability to create a strong workforce able to overcome adversity. It makes it more likely for children to not fully socialize, learning about cultures that are not their own. The threat of violating the law by making an individual feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex is too much to navigate by already stressed teachers.

 

Now more than ever as educators we must work to be more inclusive in our approach to literature in the classrooms and with our curriculum support materials. All materials in every classroom across the state should be representative of a global society and reflect the experiences of all Oklahomans. Utilizing the Oklahoma Standards as our guide, let's work together to develop these resources to support one another. When we normalize the usage of diverse literature, children will begin to see others as peers, and discussions regarding similarities and differences become normalized instead of taboo.

For years the voices of minorities have been silenced, stifled, and stolen. It is impossible to examine the history of and ongoing disparities in health, wages, wealth, education, employment rates, life expectancy, and criminal convictions without noticing that people of color are always receiving the short end of the stick. One would have to conclude that either the people of color are inferior or that there is some systemic structure that contributes to these disparities. Declaring that structural racism is not to be addressed using “public dollars” when these are public problems is an absolute failure in recognizing what children in the 21st Century need in an ever-evolving society. This legislation does nothing more than ensure that Oklahoma’s children will continue to be ignorant, intimidated and ill-prepared to address the global society of their future.