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New Trier says this year it
will focus on teaching kids how to think,
not what to think
At the August 19 New Trier Board of Education meeting, the administration highlighted its Critical Thinking & Civil Discourse statement as its guiding document. We applauded this statement in 2020 when they first adopted it in advance of the 2020 election and we do so again.
Also mentioned "in all but rare cases, the superintendent will not issue public statements on news events." We applaud this as well.
Also noted -- to big applause -- was the absence of the word "equity" in the board minutes, likely due to the retirement of lead New Trier equity liaison Pat Savage Williams, a long-time player in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consulting world.
This shift away from the politicized notion of "equity" and towards civil discourse and critical thinking is welcome. Major companies continue to dismantle their DEI departments and, in particular, ditch the term "equity" because it is toxic and anti-meritocratic.
As actions speak louder than words, we'll keep watch on New Trier -- especially to see if they hire outside DEI consultants like Ms. Savage Williams and Corrie Wallace, who suggested this offensive racist "prayer" for Jewish teachers. But our sincere hope is that the administrators and school board will implement their plans above to the benefit of students.
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