New teachers in Minnesota must immediately “affirm” radical views on race and gender after the state's board of education updated teaching certification standards.
April 2023, Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board ( 13 peopleAt least some of them were appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. Standards of Effective PracticeIt is required for all future educators applying for initial teaching certification.
“You can't force someone to say something like that, or ask them to adhere to an idea they don't believe in.”
The standards read like a manual written by a far-left extremist, with an obsession with race and repeated references to gender ideology.
- “Teachers understand the diverse impacts of individual and systemic trauma, including racism and micro- and macro-aggressions, on learning and development, and know how to support students with culturally sensitive strategies and resources to address these impacts.”
- “Teachers evaluate how their own biases, perceptions, and academic training may influence their teaching practice and perpetuate oppressive systems, and utilize tools to moderate their own actions to disrupt oppressive systems.”
- “Teachers understand that ethnocentrism, Eurocentrism, deficit-based education, and white supremacy undermine educational equity.”
- “Teachers… are dedicated to their work and their students. [an] Asset-based thinking, affirming the validity of students’ backgrounds and identities.”
Among the “backgrounds and identities” that new teachers must “affirm” are “gender, gender identity, [and] The criteria state “sexual orientation.”
These standards also affect Minnesota public and private colleges and universities that offer teacher certification programs.
“This is a very real threat to our national security,” said Doug Seaton, founder and president of the nonprofit Upper Midwest Law Center. Federalist Some Christian colleges in the state have opposed teaching students to “affirm” gender statements that contradict their faith, but most will comply or sue only if the state forces them to do so.
“Some people don't want to do that. [file a lawsuit] “That won't happen until college programs are actually found to be non-compliant or graduates are actually stripped of their licenses for not adhering to the standards,” Seaton told the outlet.
According to The Federalist, the new standards will go into effect in July 2025. While the standards take into account “religious beliefs” among the list of student identities, the media outlet noted that the gender reference violates the beliefs of Christians, Jews and Muslims, effectively banning them from the profession.
Seaton argues that the new effective standard of practice is unconstitutional because it forces teacher candidates to “affirm” statements that contradict their religious beliefs.
“They're basically requiring people to affirm beliefs they don't actually believe as a condition of becoming a public school teacher or entering a program to qualify as a public school teacher,” Seaton explained to The Federalist. “You can't force people to say that, and you can't require people to adhere to beliefs they don't believe.”
Since being nominated as Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 presidential election, Tim Walz's record of supporting far-left ideology has been in the national news. Waltz is so committed to gender ideology that he signed a law that implicitly enforces gender ideology in his state's public schools. Sanitary products in men's restroomsHence the nickname “Tampon Tim.”
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