Georgia education panel votes to cleanse teacher lesson plans as school culture wars rage on
“Words matter” – that’s what several of the dozen or so educators and parents gathered in a downtown Atlanta boardroom had to say Thursday in a bid to persuade the Georgia Professional Standards Commission not to change the state’s rules for training K-12 teachers.
The commission had on its agenda a slew of proposed revisions, removing words like “diversity” in favor of less politically fraught verbiage like “differences.”
For example, one change for elementary school educators would call on them to get to know the “unique contexts of children and families,” rather than their “diverse cultural contexts” under the previous rules.
But the speakers’ words did not sway the commissioners, who voted unanimously to approve the changes without discussion.
“History remembers white supremacists,” shouted one speaker as the commissioners voted.
Commission Chair Brian Sirmans said the changes came at the request of the University System of Georgia and are intended to clarify language that had picked up unintended negative meanings over the years.
“These proposed rule amendments are not intended to redefine or remove the care preparation providers place on meeting students’ needs or prescribe the way (education preparation providers) choose to meet the program standards,” he said. “We still expect EPPs to prepare educators who are well-equipped to address the learning needs of all students that they may encounter and who are well-prepared to meet the students where they are within a positive and welcoming learning environment.”
https://georgiarecorder.com/2023/06/08/georgia-education-panel-votes-to-cleanse-teacher-lesson-plans-as-school-culture-wars-rage-on/