Confessions of a High School English Teacher

“Because of the comments I had heard from people in the department and from our department head, I was scared my contract would not be renewed if I revealed my political preferences.”

Education is rife with fads. There is always something new and better—a classroom management style or theory, a way to teach writing, or a means by which to improve students’ self-esteem. They are fads because most of the new ideas (and buzzwords) fade after failing to improve student performance in any measurable way.

In my almost 16 years as a high school English teacher in Colorado, I have seen these fads come and go, while witnessing exorbitant amounts of money spent on them. Today, one very popular craze that is not only infiltrating education but also boardrooms, Big Tech, and government agencies is Critical Race Theory (CRT) and what it brings with it: identity politics. I was introduced to CRT (problematizing society through the lens of race) in 2010 in graduate school. By 2014, I noticed it firmly taking root. Up until that point, I had not ever worried about my own political views and how they might affect my standing with my peers. I describe myself as a classical liberal, and I fall, more specifically, on the center-right because my fiscal politics lean more conservative.

I now teach at another very large, liberal high school, and many of my fellow teachers hold up identity politics like a religion.

In 2012, I joined a school district that prides itself on promoting very progressive policies, one of which is teaching CRT along with many woke educational fads, such as safe spaces, microaggressions, restorative justice, oppressor vs. oppressed narratives, and teaching that one’s race, gender, and sex are the most important and fundamental aspects of who a person is.