North Carolina’s indoctrination-in-schools witchhunt was a big, embarrassing dud

Lt. Gov Mark Robinson’s investigation of indoctrination in North Carolina schools landed with a loud thud Tuesday, despite the efforts of him and other N.C. Republicans. The probe, which Robinson has long promised would show “proof” of widespread indoctrination in classrooms, instead affirmed something more troubling — politicians trying to intimidate educators based on a false premise of classroom brainwashing.

Teachers will recognize what Robinson delivered Tuesday — a report with a lot of dressing and little meat. It’s the term paper of a student who didn’t do the work and didn’t have much to offer. It was a dud.

Robinson, of course, did his best to claim otherwise — as did Republicans who seemed to be half-heartedly rallying to his support. In an email to constituents, Senate leader Phil Berger couldn’t even bring himself to say that the report showed widespread indoctrination in N.C. schools, instead saying that parents and teachers disagree with Democrats who say “CRT-linked” doctrine doesn’t exist. (Note the goalpost moving going on - from early GOP claims of Critical Race Theory being taught in NC classrooms to now pointing out the mere existence of something resembling CRT in some places.)

So what examples of indoctrination did Republicans and Robinson bring forth to best make their case? A sixth-grade English class used words like (gasp) “bias,” “discrimination” and “equity” as part of its vocabulary lesson. Fourth-grade students in Wake County read “George,” a widely praised children’s novel about a young transgender girl who doesn’t know how to tell family and friends about her sexual identity. A white-male teacher made his class play a common “privilege” game in which kids are typically shown what built-in advantages they have based on socio-economic status.

Also from Berger’s email: “A seventh-grade teacher in Asheville reportedly told a student he was wrong for submitting an assignment asserting merit matters more than skin color or sex. A Wake County Public School System document reportedly lists the phrase “we’re just one human family” as an example of “covert white supremacy.”

Noteworthy is the use of the word “reportedly.” Republicans know Robinson’s report is bloated with hearsay that’s likely incomplete and quite possibly influenced by the political views of the whistleblowers. Robinson didn’t even bother to confirm much of what he held forth as examples of indoctrination. He did, however, comb the social media feeds of educators looking for views he didn’t like. It was sloppy, amateurish work.

It also didn’t come close to showing indoctrination. In fact, both Robinson and N.C. Superintendent Catherine Truitt emphasized Tuesday that the examples his report cited were not representative of North Carolina’s teachers. Said Robinson: “The overwhelming majority of our teachers are hardworking folks who do a fantastic job every day.”

Yes, there have always been teachers who inadvisably let personal and political views — both progressive and conservative — slip into classroom discussion. If parents don’t like it, they can follow up with the teacher, the principal or the district. Or they might even consider it a learning opportunity — it’s not altogether bad that students confront views they haven’t heard, and it could prompt and children to have meaningful conversations about issues and people in their communities.

Republicans and Robinson, however, would prefer that N.C. students aren’t exposed to topics that don’t conform with the GOP worldview. The Lt. Governor’s report is designed to provide political cover for a Republican bill that would regulate how teachers talk about race and history in classrooms. Such a bill would likely be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, but it will set up a political fight Republicans appear to think will benefit them.

It’s a cynical sideshow that distracts from real issues our schools are confronting, and it’s one more way Republicans can say public schools are failing instead of truly addressing how to help them succeed. What’s going on is politics, not indoctrination, and it has had an unnecessarily chilling effect on teachers, making them self-conscious about what they say in class. That makes an already demanding job more stressful and less rewarding, and that’s not good for North Carolina’s schools or their students.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 1:32 PM.