There is a major concern going on right now regarding public school leaders and officials silencing parents. More and more families are questioning the state of public education, as learning loss perpetually rises, while contentious topics involving ideologies prove to be a growing concern among education officials. As more parents are beginning to speak out about their unease with racially charged matters in schools, they are reportedly being silenced, drawing more apprehension among American families. This was recently seen during a New York City Town Hall Event when one parent was censored for simply asking a question.
Fox News reports that Danyela Souza Egorov was silenced for asking a question that a member of the city’s Department of Education ruled as racially charged. Her inquiry was that of concern about a contentious book for children that she questioned for being inside school libraries, as it is said to direct hate to youth by resonating that racism was created by White people. The education official was accused of silencing the parent, and other members backed her up as they moved on to the next topic, leaving many participants angry and frustrated.
Completely shocked by the DOE official’s silencing of the parent, the Town Hall quickly erupted in chaos. The question that started it all was about the book Our Skin, by Jessica Ralli and Megan Madison. People opposed to the book’s message feel that it puts a target on Whites. It was recently recommended for reading and discussion to New York City students to fight against bias and stereotyping.
When given the floor to speak, Egorov asked, “Do you think whites invested racism?” She went on to question the DOE at what age they felt children should be introduced to books like this without parent permission. In silencing the parent, a DOE employee interrupted her, telling members not to address her question because it was racially charged. As the two conversed back and forth about the concern over the matter, the DOE official told Egorov that questions like this should consider community feedback first, to which Egorov said this was a direct question posed by parents in her local community.
After asserting that she would continue silencing the parent’s question, another attendee spoke up in defense of Egorov, urging officials to let her ask her question. At this point, the DOE official suggested that Egorov should reframe the question to a completely different one, which both parents protested as it did not address the concerns about the book. As the official eventually noted that the meeting would move on, Egorov made sure to note that the DOE was censoring the question. To this, the president of the council also backed up the education official. He stated that the meeting needed to move forward, as they had already spent too much time on that matter.
It is situations like this that only further fan the flames erupting in the war on education. Silencing parents at the hands of education officials and school board members has become a common occurrence all across the county. Semantics and ideologies aside in the debate, it signals major concern for parents simply questioning practices they don’t agree with in schools. Furthermore, if school leaders want to prove they are justified in their actions, a good place to start is by allowing open debate.
* Article from: go2tutors.com
