Teaching in the Trump Years (Part 3)
Brett Meteyer, a fourth grade teacher at Explorer Elementary School in Williamston (MI), wrote the following letter to parents of the 10 year-olds in his class just before Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States.
Dear Parents,
Because I am concerned about my students and your children being exposed to language and behavior that is not in concert with the most conservative social and family values, I have decided to show the inauguration of Donald Trump this Friday, but we will not view Mr. Trump’s inauguration speech.
Because every peaceful transition of power is a historic moment, I put in a request to the Trump team to preview the speech, but I have not heard back from them.
I showed the speeches of Presidents Obama and Bush in 2009 and 2005, respectively, but I am anxious about showing Mr. Trump’s inaugural address, given his past inflammatory and degrading comments about minorities, women, and the disabled. I am also uneasy about Mr. Trump’s casual use of profanity, so I sought an assurance that as their teacher, I would not be exposing children to language that would not appear in G- or PG-rated movies.
I do not know if Mr. Trump’s speech is something that would be provided to the press or
concerned citizens beforehand, but these plans may change if I hear back from them.
Hopefully,
Brett Meteyer
The district of four schools is located just east of Lansing, the state capitol and home to Michigan State University. There are just over 1800 students in the Teaching in the Trump Years (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: