No new teachers in Wilmington sign pledge in week ending Aug. 21 to teach Critical Race Theory

By North New Castle News

Aug 24, 2021

There were no new teachers in Wilmington who signed the pledge in week ending Aug. 21, according to an online pledge from the Zinn Education Project.

No new teachers sign the pledge the week before. It now has 11 pledges from Wilmington teachers by the end of the week ending Aug. 21.

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.

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 Wilmington who’ve pledged to teach Critical Race Theory

Teachers	Thoughts on Critical Race Theory
Julia Endrizzi	The truth matters.
Luz Maldonado	Learning and working with and for one another strengthens community and quality of life for all. The truth will allow us to uplift one another and not continue practices that diminish respect and unity.
Nora Durant	Teaching the truth of our history is necessary to move forward toward a just society.
Mike Matthews	real history is disturbing and we need to learn everything we can from it so that we can work to do better.
Katrina Simpkins	it is important to me that education is provided in an honest, antiracist-oriented manner, especially to the children who lives are forever impacted.
Jeanette Greenzweig	Truth matters. We need to understand our past so we can move forward and, hopefully, not repeat past mistakes. We can teach truthfully and in developmentally appropriate ways.
Nikki Bartolo	“no comment”
Jenifer Hummer	“no comment”
Jessica Inskeep	“no comment”
Bruce Fox	The United States of America, like every other country...and every person, has done both amazing and terrible things. We need to get past denial and face the tragedies in our past and present in order to heal and be whole.
Maribeth Jaeske	As an educator who believes in teaching the truth to my students I will not be bullied into silence. I will do my part to equip my students with the tools and knowledge to combat the systemic racism that continues to plague our society. In order to create a more just and equitable future we must teach the truth and ignore the ignorance of those who refuse to accept it.