Playing the Fear Card

The Aug. 3 primary election for PSD board director is critically important for the future of our school district. The results may have a lasting impact for many years. Three candidates (Johnson, Ader and Weinberg) have made statements about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other education related issues that are simply untrue. These candidates are playing the “fear card” trying to scare voters into supporting their agenda.

PSD has absolutely no plans to implement a CRT curriculum, nor does one even exist. It is a theoretical model that has been used in graduate-level academia for 40+ years, not an instructional curriculum. Their so-called “Common Sense Curriculum” seeks to restrict education by turning it into a mythology that supports their view of the world, but that has little to do with reality or historical facts.

In the Pierce County Voter’s Pamphlet, Ader disingenuously cites Martin Luther King Jr., twisting his words to support her cause. Teaching a made-up feel-good version of history does not help children become critical thinkers. Johnson suggests that teaching the truth will “teach them to divide people by class, race and creed,” and then cites “the American way,” whatever that is. It seems these candidates want to perpetuate the misunderstanding and hate that is so rampant around race and sexual identity.

Please go to the ballot box and put the brakes on this effort to hijack our schools. Our kids deserve better than what these candidates offer.

Ken Wassum, Vaughn