frederick m. hess and chester finn jr. , writing in <u+201c> stop teaching anti-trump bias <u+201d> in u.s. news & world report, nov. 16: . . . [w]e are astonished that so many educators, schools and colleges chose to treat [trump<u+2019>s] election as reason to alarm their students and to suggest that only a democratic victory would have aligned with the nation<u+2019>s values. we understand that the country is divided and that some kids share their parents<u+2019> fears of potentially being deported or losing their health insurance. we<u+2019>ve surely no objection to teachers comforting fearful children. that<u+2019>s a responsibility of all adults who care for them. but we don<u+2019>t believe that educators are supposed to make kids scared or teach that there is a right outcome and a wrong one to a presidential election. and we<u+2019>re puzzled to see so many educators<u+2014>and even education journalists<u+2014>imagine that trump<u+2019>s election can only be understood through the prism of racism and xenophobia. wednesday should have been, and doubtless was, in some schools and classrooms that never made it onto tv, a rare opportunity to teach civics and history. to explain how the electoral college works and why it exists; to point out how many times in america<u+2019>s past, starting in 1800, an election upset has led to change and has been accompanied by the peaceful transfer of power from one party to another. our schools do such a miserable job of imparting u.s. history and civics to their pupils that it<u+2019>s important to exploit every <u+201c>teachable moment,<u+201d> and this was a vivid one. we fear that it<u+2019>s been largely wasted or used instead for propagandizing. education leaders insist that their response to the election outcome is not ideological; that it<u+2019>s simply a response to trump<u+2019>s unique grotesquery. that would be easier to believe if k-12 and higher education leaders weren<u+2019>t so open to stripping the statues and names of revered presidents like wilson, jefferson and washington from school and college buildings. if prominent republicans weren<u+2019>t routinely disinvited from universities. if decent men like mitt romney and george w. bush had not been routinely depicted by educators as racists, crypto-fascists and war criminals. if so many schools hadn<u+2019>t celebrated obama<u+2019>s two elections with rallies, songs of homage and ebullient videos.
notable & quotable: teachers and trump - wsj
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