Rosemary Little of Concord is a retired public school teacher, mother and grandmother.
According to our commissioner of education, family values are a big issue in education. Teachers are being harassed if they discuss viewpoints in public schools that do not support his version of family values. Preserving family values has been escalated to the top in the hierarchy of public education priorities by our commissioner.
However, there is no rubric for family values; it is simply what each family thinks is important, and while most families agree on certain values, there is a lot of room for variety. Families are free to make their family values known to teachers, administrators and boards of education, and may request their child to opt-out of a class they feel violates their family values, but they do not have the right to impose their version of family values in the classroom on everyone else.
The commissioner is confused. He seems to think that hearing another voice or another viewpoint is indoctrination and therefore against family values. We have a pathway for indoctrination: it’s called homeschooling. (I do not mean that everyone who is homeschooling is indoctrinating their children, simply that it is an avenue to do so if desired.)
The commissioner has experience in homeschooling. He taught a class of seven, but he does not have the credentials to be a teacher in the public schools, let alone commissioner, and he does not have the right to impose his family values throughout our public schools.
We have already started down a slippery slope in New Hampshire by passing laws that put public school teachers in jeopardy of losing their jobs by talking about slavery, racism, sexual orientation and other topics in a way that labels one group of people oppressive over another. This is a violation of many people’s family values that want frank and truthful discussions about these topics at school. Our commissioner supports these laws, which do not align with many New Hampshire families’ values.
Freedom of speech is a cherished constitutional right and should not be curtailed by family values. Public schools should expose kids to different viewpoints, opinions, observations and voices that may be different from the ones with which they are familiar. It is called learning about the broader world.
Teachers in public schools challenge kids to think and to express their opinions with solid research and supporting evidence. It’s called critical thinking. In my opinion, these are some of the most important lessons to learn in school and I believe align with many parents’ family values.
It is time for the commissioner to step down from his ivory tower. He has done enough damage to public schools in New Hampshire in the name of his brand of family values.