Remember when Democrats, Leftists, and the media were mocking parents for being concerned about Critical Race Theory? They called it a racist dog whistle and insisted over and over and over again it was not being taught in schools. Oh sure, some teachers were being trained in it BUT there wasn’t a magical lesson plan called CRT and that was the only proof they needed to blast anyone voicing concerns about what they were seeing in public schools.
Once progressives figured out they couldn’t keep playing this dodge, they started promoting Social-Emotional Learning. Now, you think to yourself gosh, that makes sense, learning should be social and we want our kids to be emotionally healthy at school, but THEN you start reading what SEL actually represents, and gosh, golly, gee, there’s CRT again.
Christopher Rufo has pointed this reality out many times.
And that’s probably why Jonathan Chait wanted to mock him (and people who agree with him) for it:
In my newsletter, I wrote about about Rufo's nutty theories about social-emotional learning as a scheme to indoctrinate children in neo-Marxism: https://t.co/aidmTEkuir pic.twitter.com/XxjvccmoRt
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) April 24, 2022
Jonathan, dude, read the room.
I have a thread here on how one of the bigger education companies promoting social-emotional learning nationwide — co-founded by AG Garland’s son-in-law FWIW — makes it clear that, in their view & in their own words, SEL is a vehicle to promote a variety of leftwing ideas. https://t.co/liGcYr9Kv2
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) April 24, 2022
Oh yeah, we left that part out. The Social-Emotional Learning thing comes from a company founded by Garland’s son-in-law.
Because there’s no conflict of interest in that.
Twitchy favorite @EsotericCD had a thing or two to drop on Chait’s head:
This is clever & cute until you have current ongoing contact with the education industry (I have! It sucks) and then you find out that ill-trained teachers on the ground-encounter level with YOUR CHILDREN think "SEL," whatever the intent, results basically in what Rufo says. https://t.co/QvHoCEaC2x
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) April 25, 2022
Don’t believe your lying eyes or something.
Forget that parents are literally saying this is LITERALLY what Social-Emotional Learning looks like …
Jeff continued:
Chait knows charter schools, so he either has no excuse for this or is just living in the true hothouse-flower world of elite white privilege that never touches a normal public school. My anecdotes are mere anecdata, granted, but Rufo's talking about a world we parents recognize.
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) April 25, 2022
‘… living in the true hothouse-flower world of elite white privilege that never touches a normal public school.’
Wow, that is so well-written.
Seriously.
This is from a friend behind a locked account, but too apposite not to simply quote in full: "Shorter Chait: 'Rufo says there's nothing wrong with SEL in theory but here's how it turns out in practice' is obviously wrong because here's the theory on paper!"
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) April 25, 2022
They’re trying to do the same thing with SEL they did with CRT.
Imagine how much easier this would all be if they just focused on teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic.
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