Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
May Day has come and gone, and protesters were out in full force to protest Trump Administration policies, billionaires, and capitalism, which is their right as Americans. Protesters expected to be taken seriously with their mispelled signs, eloquent chants (“hey hey, ho ho billionaires have got to go,” despite being funded by billionaires), and advocating socialism because they believe it’s the key to getting free stuff. They’ll spout the words of members of Congress like good little automatons, even though it was those same members of Congress who proudly marched in No Kings Protests, but gave rousing applause to King Charles III when he spoke before Congress.
Instead of enjoying spring weather or going to work, many people called in sick so they could attend what they believed to be meaningful protests. This is the prerogative of employees who choose to use their sick time to march for causes that they believe are important for the welfare of America, and ironically, many of the protesters are on welfare. However, in many school districts, so-called educators have either shut down schools or encouraged students to attend these rallies instead of going to classes in schools that do remain open, and this crosses a line.
As a recently retired teacher, I spent four decades educating students to use logic and reason to make good choices. I taught them historical lessons and wanted them to be passionate about societal issues, but I also insisted that they show up for classes where they could debate opposing ideas and develop critical thinking skills. I would have never asked them to march for causes that I found personally important because it was up to them to decide what causes they should or should not champion. I would have never used my influence to tell students what to think because the most important aspect of education is for them to discover what they should or should not believe. I would have never encouraged students to skip school.
As social justice warriors commandeer classrooms, the battle for the hearts and, more importantly, minds of our students puts these kids at serious risk. Students are told bold lies and one-sided stories to influence them to think and act a certain way, which is textbook indoctrination. I saw videos of students at these protests who couldn’t answer simple questions about words on the signs they carried as they parroted words like “F**k Trump,” and admitted she’s heard her teacher say these exact words in school.
It is highly doubtful that any syllabi or pacing charts for any class in any American school have a provision for skipping school to go to a protest. It is doubtful that any performance objective of a lesson plan for a class reads as follows: “Students will be able to hold signs and protest the policies of the Trump Administration or condemn capitalism.” It is doubtful that “F**k Trump is listed on any lesson plan under the vocabulary section of the plan.
American taxpayers pay for schools to educate their kids. Billions of dollars are spent in an effort to help the next generation develop the requisite skills to become productive citizens. This requires competence in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Despite big numbers being paid to some protesters by leftist organizations, there isn’t much of a future for paid protesting, and (at least for the time being) you won’t find it as a college major, nor should it be put on a CV.
Chicago was a bastion of protests on what became known as “International Workers Day Protests.” Illinois state test scores for the school year of 2023-2024, reading proficiency was 29%, and math proficiency was 18%. Students were out in full force in Illinois; however, given these abysmal numbers, it’s obvious that what students should be protesting is demanding that schools do a better job.
According to Illinoispolicy.org, fewer than 1 out of 4 students in the 11th grade in the state of Illinois could read at grade level. Chronic absenteeism, especially among minority students in Chicago, is a serious issue, with the number of students labeled chronically absent exceeding 40% in 2024, yet students were encouraged to get on school buses to attend protests in lieu of attending classes.
Despite all of these alarming numbers about the status of education in Chicago, the Chicago teacher union (which wanted schools to be closed) cut a deal with the Chicago Public School system to approve 40 “field trips” for 2200 students, which resulted in 2600 substitute teachers being deployed to support 76 schools. Yellow buses filled with students descended into protest areas, and students showed up to hold signs about issues that they couldn’t explain.
Other cities and states in America produce equally atrocious numbers when it comes to student competence in basic skills, yet educators would gladly give up a day of instruction to have kids out on the streets the way pimps use prostitutes to market their product.
Teacher unions, whose job should be to support teachers in providing the best possible learning alternatives to students, are actually radical leftist institutions with little concern for declining test scores or statistics that show their members are more engaged in activism than academics. They make excuses for poor test results and are more interested in using teachers to cultivate groups of students to push their political agenda, which is always heavily leftist. These same unions contribute millions of dollars to leftist candidates and manipulate curriculum to push programs that support woke ideological concerns.
I’m sure some parents, the ones with severe TDS, support the idea that their students can give up a day of classes to protest, and I’m sure they also called in sick to march with their kids, but there are many more parents that wanted their kids in school so they can learn the skills that will give them employable skills. These responsible parents don’t want their children to be inundated with Marxist doctrines and realize that “paid protester” is not going to be looked upon favorably by prospective employers when their kids fill out job applications.
Parents want answers regarding the poor quality of education in so many schools around the country that do a subpar job in educating children. They are tired of the pre-programmed answers spewed by politicians whose hyperbole gets them applause from useful idiots who probably couldn’t read at grade level, either, or explain key words on signs financed by the same billionaires that they are protesting against. It’s time to get back to basics, which does not include using kids to bolster numbers at protests by the majority of individuals whose appearance and rhetoric expose their lack of education and make them more likely freak show attractions than political pundits.
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