Progressives like to portray themselves as tolerant, until they are in charge and then the tyranny begins.
The top priority of progressives is the indoctrination of children.These two goals are coming together as Michigan is now forcing librarians to actively push their social justice agenda on children.
Michigan plans to force radical agenda on librarians
The Michigan Department of Education is asking for public comment on some recent draft revisions that would affect the state’s school librarian standards.
The new standards would “expand” what librarians would learn, which would include pushing to advocate for racial and social justice.
These revisions are part of a plan to expand Michigan’s expectations for librarian preparation programs to include the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics.
That code was not in previous versions of the standards, causing some state library associations to leave the American Library Association altogether.
Many of them claim that there are ideological differences over things like moderating content and removing certain books from the shelves.
Alabama’s State Library Association voted to leave the ALA after concerns were raised surrounding sexually explicit content, and several other states are following suit.
The association in Alabama voted to leave immediately rather than wait until March when its membership would officially expire.
Meanwhile, a letter from the Michigan Department of Education says that its new proposed standards would completely replace the current ones that were previously adopted by the State Board of Education in 2012.
Part of the new standard would now require school librarians to “model and promote the ethical practices of librarianship,” which includes things like providing access to resources, protecting intellectual freedom and fighting censorship.
However, an edition from June 2021 indicates that librarians should also pursue social justice not just at work, but in the community as a whole.
The text from ALA’s code for librarians reads, “We work to recognize and dismantle systemic and individual biases; to confront inequity and oppression; to enhance diversity and inclusion; and to advance racial and social justice in our libraries, communities, profession, and associations through awareness, advocacy, education, collaboration, services, and allocation of resources and spaces.”
The new proposal would affect school libraries
Not only would the new code determine what traditional librarians would do, but it would also affect what future school librarians would learn during their state’s college teacher training programs.
According to a memo from Delsa D. Chapman, “The proposed standards would inform program development and continuous improvement efforts at Michigan’s educator preparation institutions.”
Chapman is Michigan’s deputy superintendent, and she said that the school librarian preparation programs are “responsible for ensuring that new school librarians demonstrate proficiency in these standards.”
The proposal is open to public comment which will be reviewed before the Department of Education makes its recommendation to the State Board of Education on May 14.
Blue State Blues will keep you up-to-date on this ongoing story.
