‘Back to Basics’ — Not ‘DEI’
To the Editor:
I believe that Newtown sends its kids to school to learn their ABCs, not their “DEIs.”
I believe we want school funding and energies allocated toward the true purpose of public education … academic excellence and competitive outcomes based solely on merit, not race, sex, or gender identification. Our Board of Ed should be free to concentrate on education, not the constant turmoil of DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion]. My sense is a majority of Newtown and the country now agree, and 2022 will mark the turning point “Back to Basics.”
DEI takes as given that Newtown’s students, teachers, and parents are systemically racist and need government “coordinators” to remediate them into proper government-sponsored thinking. I believe the majority of Newtown rejects this diagnosis … and the proposed “solution” to be even worse.
The basic unit of society is the sacred bond of the family. The family is the building block of society and the source of life values for our community … not DEI “initiatives and coordinators.” Schools need to be accountable to families, not the other way around.
It appears to me that DEI is producing division and dysfunction across the entire country as protests against school boards in the daily headlines attest. It is not uniting … it is dividing. It is not Diverse, or Inclusive, and its Equity is not based on impartial merit, but on partisan political ideology.
America is NOT systemically racist, it’s systemically kind and charitable. But it HAS been systemically naïve and trusting of government intellectuals claiming to be more knowledgeable and concerned about our children than we are.
Red flags should go up whenever people claim to know what’s better for you and your kids than you do yourself, and then impose their agenda whether you agree or not.
I believe a majority of Newtown supports parents, students, teachers, and Board of Ed members who want “Back to Basics” not “DEI”.
Tony Keating
Newtown
This is a complicated subject. I think most newton residents believe history should be taught in Newtown Schools. There is no question that minorities have had to fight for equal rights, to this day. If you don’t want to call that systematic racism that’s fine, but i cant think of another word for denying minorities the right to vote. Schools need to teach all history, not eliminate parts because its uncomfortable.
Equity abhors merit. Everybody gets the same trophy whether they show up or not. This is not the American way. Learn, work hard and achieve. The outcome is up to you not the government.