Teacher Forces Kids to Recite Gender Neutral Declaration of Independence
By Brian Thomas
A Mesa, Arizona elementary school teacher told her students to recite the Declaration of Independence, but she edited the document to reflect gender neutrality.
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Elizabeth Vaillancourt, whose son was one of the students in the Salk Elementary School classroom told to recite the edited document, is outraged.
Vaillancourt took the story to reporters and wrote about the event on her Facebook, saying “I beg of you all for future generations to remain free, please beware of what is actually occurring in our schools. The school seemed much more upset about my face book posts, meant to inform the public, than what is happening in the class.”
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The teacher apparently bragged to her students about going to an anti-Trump protest and crossed out gendered pronouns on the classroom’s copy of the Declaration of Independence, then tried to argue that she wasn’t bringing personal politics into the classroom.
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The edited version of America’s founding document reads “all humans are created equal.” In fact, every gendered pronoun in the text was crossed out and replaced with “humans.”
Fox News reports:
After Vaillencourt spoke with school officials, her child was moved to a different class. But school officials told her that her social media post had “hurt the teacher’s feelings,” the television station reported.
Vaillencourt told the station that the school superintendent’s office informed her that the teacher’s actions were against school policy.
A spokeswoman for the Mesa Public Schools said although there was no specific policy regarding the “discussion of political beliefs by a teacher in a classroom,” teachers were not allowed to “share their political views with students,” KGUN-TV reported.
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“It should be recited as written, and not modified in any way,” the spokeswoman added, referring to the declaration. “School administration, when learning of the alteration to the text, provided feedback and guidance to the teacher to restore the document to its original format.”
Vaillencourt isn’t alone standing up to the teacher’s actions. Many in the community want the teacher reprimanded or fired.
From The Daily Mail:
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Vaillancourt was not the only one who was upset by the teacher’s gender-neutral edit either, with a number of people saying that the woman should be fired by the school.
‘I’m soooooo p***ed about this whole situation!!! She needs her teacher cert revoked!!!’ wrote one woman.
‘How are these idiots teaching children today. Fire the teacher,’ stated another individual.
And one person commented on Vaillancourt’s post saying: ‘I think that is so wrong, I would write a letter to the president of the United States and ask him how he feels about it.’
Of the over 20 comments only one person defended the teacher, writing: ‘Nothing is wrong with it. We are humans. Stop making a fool of your self.’
A teacher cannot brag to her students about her anti-Trump rallies and edit the Declaration of Independence for them to recite just because she thinks her beliefs are right.
Do we allow other elementary school teachers to make “corrections” to important documents, just because they believe such editing is appropriate?
Teachers are not in the classroom to force opinions on kids, particularly when those opinion require “correcting” history which doesn’t align with the teachers’ beliefs.
A teacher’s job is to tell children facts, and teach them how to think. Apparently, facts are not up for debate at Salk Elementary School, and neither is critical thinking.
