No new teachers in Burlington sign pledge on Oct. 4 to teach Critical Race Theory

By Burlington Reporter

Oct 6, 2021

There were no new teachers in Burlington who signed the pledge on Oct. 4, according to an online pledge from the Zinn Education Project.

The pledge was signed by no teachers on Oct. 3, the day before. It now has nine pledges from Burlington teachers.

They’re one of the thousands of US teachers pledging to continue educating students about the controversial Critical Race Theory, which explains racism is embedded in US culture and politics.

Comments from Burlington teachers included, "We cannot allow a witch hunt to block best practices in teaching and learning" and "My students need to learn the truth and white supremacy will not stop that".

Though the concept was first suggested in the late 70’s, it has recently exploded as a contentious issue between the American right and left in the last two years.

Many who signed the pledge are defying state bans on the teachings. Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.

Other states, such as Montana and South Dakota, have denounced the teachings without passing specific legislation.

In an interview with The Washington Free Beacon', Ashley Varner of the Freedom Foundation accused the Zinn Education Project of providing “left-leaning propaganda to teachers.”

Teachers in Burlington who’ve pledged to teach Critical Race Theory

Teachers	Thoughts on Critical Race Theory
Christine Callahan	No comment
Gus Buchanan	No comment
Lillian Lawrence-Paine	No comment
Linden Higgins	Only through consideration of context and diverse points of view can we come to address the long-standing systemic racism in science and other fields of human knowledge.
Linden Higgins	We cannot allow a witch hunt to block best practices in teaching and learning.
Lionel Beasley	Truth matters.
Melissa Statz	My students need to learn the truth and white supremacy will not stop that.
Omega Jade Williams	I teach Black History through creative writing. I believe all historical facts should be free to discuss and learn about. History repeats itself when we don't take time to learn from our mistakes. Black History is part of American History. Every good, bad and ugly part of it.
Sharon Wheeler	I am trained as a middle school teacher and as a pastor it is important our youth understand all history including systematic racism.