Spotlight commenters have gleefully called out the many over-the-top accusations its article tossed at local Republicans, which was charmingly entitled “Conservatives infiltrate Silicon Valley school board races.”
As one of those “infiltrators,” I’m also struck by how the article uses a number of flawed rhetorical devices. Sadly, many of these conventions have become more common in the Internet era, contributing to the debased nature of our political debate.
Here are the top five logical missteps the article makes:
No. 1: The article turns nonpartisan, widely accepted concepts into heresy. Andre Macias is running for SJUSD school board because he is disappointed in the district’s academic performance. Zoila Rollins wants some level of parental oversight over textbooks, especially if materials don’t align with personal values. These are concepts and concerns held by parents all across the political spectrum, and certainly not the exclusive concern of the “far right” nor conservatives.
No. 2: The article takes statements out of context to create inaccurate claims. For example, the article turns a candidate’s comment supporting parents’ prerogative to review school curriculum into a false assertion that the candidate is anti-LGBTQ. Additionally, it turns concerns over the extravagances of critical race theory into a sign of inveterate racism.
No. 3: The article conflates ideas that are not the same to create a false atmosphere of terror. Check out the Orwellian tricks: “recruiting” candidates becomes “grooming.” Extremist critical race theory ideas simply becomes anodyne ethnic studies.
No. 4: The article repeats unverified claims from a hyper-partisan group—the Santa Clara County Democrats—at face value. Claims are not fact-checked, and are based upon unverified, undated and clearly manipulated online imagery. Much of the article is simply the outlandish claims found on the SCC Dems website and Twitter account.
No. 5: The article conflates a person’s retweets and shares with endorsements of every position ever taken by the originator of the shared post. This is an overreach of monumental proportions, and the sort of ham-fisted logic that would tar just about anybody who ever shared a link to anything on Facebook or Twitter. This is elevating the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon into a forensic tool.
Look, I know politics ain’t bean bag, and Spotlight has every right to pen as partisan a piece as it wants. I’m not complaining. Just reminding everyone that, as we move forward into what media critics call a Post Persuasion era, we should all watch out for these tricks and techniques.
Keep your antennas tuned, because soon enough, we will all be infiltrators.
Robert Varich is a Campbell Union High School District trustee and is running for reelection.
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Finally, a voice of reason amidst a roiling sea of non-sensical liberal invective!
Finally, someone who can use invective in a sentence.
Wow! Someone that makes sense finally! My daughters school went out of the gate this year trying to teach activism under the “ethnic studies” umbrella – which is CA’s CRT. Look, I don’t have an issue with REAL history being taught – but learning about “police resistance” and demonizing other groups is NOT history and has NO place in K-12. I would have the SAME issue if her teacher was holding a bible and wearing a red hat preaching to my kids. Full stop!
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmc.asp (just go to Sample Lesson Plans to see what I am talking about – it should concern everyone).
Also, my kids school is teaching gender ideology and asking everyone for their pronouns. Ok, fine – do it. But, I asked for the curriculum after the school asked to “talk to your kids about these issues” but the school REFUSED to send me the curriculum. Straight up refused.
My kid has said these topics are awkward for her, and the social justice nonsense was stopped after one-week – and the teacher said “this class wasn’t ready for it.” The teacher doesn’t realize the kids aren’t receiving this information the way she imagined and it’s not appropriate in schools AT ALL.
So as this author states – many parents, many, many parents are looking for more reasonable leadership that will prioritize core subjects and move this state out of the bottom of the public education rankings. You want real equity? Stop failing the kids in CA. Stop forcing them to wear masks. Take any extra time you have as an educator and don’t teach CRT – teach the core topics and get these kids to grade level. Figure out an actual solution to support ESL students just moving through the grades without understanding the content.
I have been just appalled by the schools system in this state/county. Robert, I appreciate your perspective, and it was very disheartening to read that article on Spotlight, which was just fueling the flames of identity politics and making reasonable parents out to be dangerous people.
I found the original article distasteful and do not appreciate the SCC Democrats group’s assumption they speak for all Democrats / me. We need to end with the othering and unite as possible. Thanks for sharing these sentiments.
“Zoila Rollins wants some level of parental oversight over textbooks, especially if materials don’t align with personal values.”
Has anyone else noticed that when people talk about “values” but are so vague that you have no idea what values to which they’re referring, it almost always ends up being intolerance toward a marginalized group?
When the left talks about values, we’re pretty specific. We believe in a strong social safety net, equality under the law, ending systemic racism (which, like a round earth, exists regardless of your belief in it) and systemic transphobia and homophobia… the list goes on and you can’t get us to shut up about any of it. We are voluntarily verbose and quite specific.
When the right gets on about textbooks, suddenly it’s like bad scriptwriting, with the character that only ever speaks in vague riddles because to do otherwise would make the movie 90 minutes shorter by solving all of the problems the protagonist faces. “We believe in Christian values.” (they really mean homophobia and transphobia) “We don’t want our kids learning about controversial subjects in school.” (they really mean slavery and Jim Crow)
I don’t find this kind of thing amusing at all. In 2021, 53% of transgender and non-binary youth considered suicide and 19% attempted it (Elflein, 2022). Bullying and intolerance and violence drive that ongoing crisis. In 2020, about 64.9% of hate crimes in the US were based on race, wth black Americans making up more than half of the victims (NYT, May 16, 2022). Racism drive that ongoing crisis.
These aren’t principles, they’re not values, they’re not morals. Hate isn’t a value. Intolerance isn’t a value. They’re the opposite. And I think people holding this belief know that, which is why they use vague language to cover up what they’re really saying.
Your kid’s history class does not exist to protect your worldview, it exists to expand your kid’s worldview. Same thing with their science class, their literature class, their mathematics class, their art/music class, and their geography class.
Finally, “Extremist critical race theory ideas… ”
Even if I offered the deed to a brand new home in Cupertino as a reward, the author of this article couldn’t accurately define critical race theory. Despite a complete lack of understanding, they’ve determined it’s extremist and is an issue with k-12 public schools.
Critical race theory is a graduate-level socio-philosophical concept taught in law school which, starting from the idea of race being a social construct, investigates how systemic ideas about race impact the outcomes of legal systems and policies. It was later expanded to also investigate how these ideas about race impact society, language, and political power. To call it academically dense would be an understatement. It’s not being taught in your local elementary school.
You’ve been lied to, Author, and you were susceptible to those lies because of the beliefs you’ve fooled yourself into thinking are values.
What a load of nonsense. If you take the time to review CA’s “ethnic studies” curriculum you will see the core concepts of CRT being taught. You are just misinformed – and that information is linked above. Your party’s mindset is moving people farther from equality, in a state that has the highest rates of homelessness, highest cost of living, highest taxes, a 44th out of 50 ranking in public education (which is the actual equity issue) and failing public infrastructure. California is a prime example, and not a good one, for where the rest of the country goes if they move far Left. It’s not good.
Here are some lesson plans from CA CRT:
“Sample Lesson 9: #BlackLivesMatter and Social Change (police resistance)”
“Teaching Tolerance’s “Bringing Black Lives Matter into the Classroom Part II”
“The criminalization of men and boys of color goes hand in hand with the decriminalization of white males. As a result, white criminality is less controlled, surveilled, and punished while Black, Latino, and Southeast Asian criminality is treated as threatening and in need of punishment.”
It’s full of anti-white propaganda, Leftist social movements/resistance talking points and Marxist ideology. It’s racist. I assume you are ignorant to the actual curriculum you say isn’t being taught, but that is typical for those on the Left to be clueless.
No, the load of nonsense is someone who watches too much Fox News presuming to explain to a teacher that they know more about what’s happening in schools.
I’ve been in the classroom for 15 years, my students get an absolutely outstanding education from me, and people who either completely make things up themselves or who allow themselves to be unthinking vectors for misinformation are the single greatest threat to the education system.
If you’re upset about California being 44th and want to know why, go find a mirror.
Will, Couldn’t agree with you more about the impact of Fox News as a source of truth. I have kids at Prospect High School and I can tell you based upon my experience as a parent that Trustee Varich has a long history of explaining to experts why his opinion is right and theirs is wrong. After 12 years in Moreland and now 4 years in CUHSD, it’s time to send Mr. Varich and his closed mindedness packing.
Again, you’re just wrong. My kid goes to social studies class where they learn about slavery, segregation, civil rights Era, etc.
They read books on these topics and no one “hides the past.” Then, after history class is when she learns about Left Wing, partisan politics – and they stopped that class after a week and pivoted to independent study. She was learning police were bad and about resistance and about the criminal organization, BLM.
I voted for Hilary, then Biden. I am not right wing person, and I would have the same issues if someone had a red hat on preaching to my kids about right wing nonsense.
So grow up and stop blaming everyone who disagrees with CRT (I’ve showed the curriculum – how is BLM “history”?) For being racist, or full of lies. It’s just not true at all. I have proven you wrong and look at the curriculum for yourself because you’re the one parroting lies, not this author or school board candidates who want to go in another direction.
“She was learning police were bad and about resistance and about the criminal organization, BLM.”
No school is teaching that police are “bad”, no school is teaching about “resistance”, and BLM is a modern social movement without hierarchy and not a criminal organization. Not only are these takes un-nuanced, they’re so far from reality that they’re just flatly not true.
You’re lying, first and foremost to yourself.
I’ve had parents who came in with an agenda and were utterly unable to actually listen long enough to understand what I was really teaching. I hope your kids’ teachers didn’t have to put up with this kind of thing from you.
Maybe just take your kids out of school altogether. You can be the ultimate arbiter of truth, no other perspectives can get in, and they can just be a copy and paste of you.
I’ll end with some facts for you because clearly you are light on them. BLM, the larger network, is being sued by smaller chapters for fraud. Other chapters have been indicted on federal fraud charges – and recently a leader of the movement has been accused of embezzling $10 million. This is all public record – and you support that group being promoted in classrooms? That’s not shocking, given your lack of accountability.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-02/black-lives-matter-leader-accused-of-stealing-10-million-from-organization
https://www.yahoo.com/video/boston-blm-activist-husband-indicted-223733651.html
Next, teachers in CA lobbied to lock kids out of schools and forced masking far longer than any other state or area, with the exception of NYC. This has resulted in thousands upon thousands of students leaving the public schools. And you just blame the parents? The CTA caused more harm to these kids than the virus ever would due to fear, and that has caused a massive rift for those kids, which you won’t ever take accountability for.
Here is a Spotlight article just today discussing chronic absenteeism from San Jose schools: https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-santa-clara-county-silicon-valley-students-are-chronically-absent-from-class-skipping-school/
My kids thankfully are performing at grade level despite your groups actions because they have support at home. With that said, you virtue signal about “equity” as less than 50% of CA students perform at grade level – especially marginalized groups. I advocate not to teach those students they are victims via CRT – I say schools take that time getting those kids to grade level and stop failing them, which is the real issue of equity. Public schools failing these kids is the real problem. Your perspective is why families are losing faith in education. You’re not an expert in anything besides the subject matter you’re hired to teach. I won’t tell a math teacher how to teach math – but I will tell a math teacher who feels the need to categorize students by race they have ZERO business doing so.
Lastly, I see you didn’t dispute CRT principles being embedded in CA’s required curriculum. Why? Because anyone can access the curriculum to see – it’s not a secret. So, back to your original comment – it was just 100% wrong. Parents have every right to be involved in their child’s education – it’s our job to protect our kids…and who hurt them the most over the last few years? Authoritarian government entities pushing “virtual learning”, including schools districts. It is a shame.
Wait a second, I almost forgot. I don’t care.
Go ahead and conflate the alleged behaviors of one corrupt individual with millions of people who speak out for justice.
Go ahead and make inane points about masks and sound like one of those people.
Go ahead and act as if equity is a conspiracy instead of a principle.
And go ahead and pretend that you know the first thing about CRT. In fact, pretend to be an immunologist, investigative journalist, child psychologist, and masters student in law all rolled into one.
I don’t know why I momentarily forgot that what you say has no impact.
Each of these points are spot on. I hope the reporter and the editor have learned from this.
Wow, “time to be honest” isn’t history what happened in the near and far past. How is blm, protests, racism, and police resistance not history? Or do prefer your own edited version and not truth? Maybe not since you are afraid to reveal your name.
It’s hard to put your partisan politics to the side to acknowledge that public schools have zero business teaching ideologies that align with political narratives that lean one way or the other. Teaching BLM and that “police are bad” is just a false narrative – especially since BLM is bogged down in so many criminal issues at this point – including massive fraud. As I have stated several times, I would have an issue with a teacher wearing a red hat, bible thumping in class – just as I am sure you would. There is no difference.
So, yes, just as many schools ALWAYS have – teach about slavery, civil rights era, etc. – that is happening every school year in the VAST majority of this country. And yes, it was even happening before 2020! It really was. But don’t bring culture wars into the classroom – especially these polarizing topics that adults can’t even discuss. Be objective and stick to the core topics. If they do that, then maybe less than 50% of students wouldn’t be performing below grade level.
Where can activism and “social justice” be taught? In the community. Let families decide if they want their kids to be told cops are scary – but most people don’t believe that.
They won’t tell the students that cops have over 20 million interactions with the public per year, at least – and only 1,000 end up in an officer involved incident leading to death, which is like 0.002% of those interactions – and 45% of those people killed are white. If you’re going to slam groups with half baked information – at least tell the WHOLE story. It’s not objective. It’s not fact. And, it’s a version of history YOU decided to believe based on false narratives. Simple as that.
As stated in your response, “Andre Macias is running for SJUSD school board because he is disappointed in the district’s academic performance. Zoila Rollins wants some level of parental oversight over textbooks, especially if materials don’t align with personal values. These are concepts and concerns held by parents all across the political spectrum, and certainly not the exclusive concern of the “far right” nor conservatives.”
I believe these are exactly the talking points of the “far right” conservative groups that recruited these board candidates, and are paying for their campaigns. Please enlighten me as to what Andre Macias knows about SJUSD academic performance, and more importantly, what exactly does he plan to do to improve it? Does he really believe the current SJUSD board and district educators don’t work every day to improve student learning? If he truly has some suggestions let’s hear them! Zoila wants to choose the books for our students. Why should her personal religious and political views infiltrate book decisions at public schools? What if I completely disagree with her opinion about which books belong in my child’s school library? Who gets to make the final decision? Parents have always been encouraged to participate in their child’s school. I was a very involved parent. I was a Home and School Club President and a School Site Council Chair, along with years of being a classroom parent helper. Parents have numerous avenues to have a voice at their child’s school. Maybe it would be a good idea to get involved before jumping directly into the book banning business! You complained that the author of the original article used rhetorical devices to make their point. This seems ironic, considering that the MAGA candidate’s campaigns rely heavily on pathos. All of their talking points are directly from the conservative play book, which was developed to tug at voter emotions and encourage some level of outrage. The Public school system is far from perfect, but it is full of dedicated educators working to provide a quality education to each child they serve. We need board members who serve for the right reasons, not to further their personal political agenda. School boards are non-partisan positions, that must serve all the families and students of our communities.
When you say “MAGA candidates” that is misleading. You can simply disagree with the vast amount of people in CA who think the same (lack of a diversity of thought and ideas in this area) and you’re labeled “MAGA” which is a total cop out. Like the guy above who labeled me a “Fox News” viewer for stating facts – and correcting the record. When in fact, I voted Democrat my entire life. I was cast as “MAGA” without a second thought, when I voted for Hilary then Biden. This is how engrained these false narratives are in people’s heads.
Many voters want to hear from more candidates these days who don’t all think the same – or are willing to do the things these districts did during COVID which has compelled chronic absenteeism and a plummeting of children’s, especially marginalized, academic report cards. It harmed their mental health. Alum Rock, the poorest district with majority latino families is the ONLY district that kept a mask mandate, with so many ESL learners who need to see faces, without any recommendation from the medical professionals. And you advocate for equity while muzzling children and covering their faces for no reason at all?
They continued to harm those kids and delay their educations – and it happened because of unreasonable “leaders.” And you’re trying to muzzle other view points?
If you are unwilling to listen to other perspectives in a state/county that has not done a great job educating kids in the public system (CA is at the bottom in public education) – and are willing to accept the status quo – then that’s on you. I am not going to dismiss candidates without hearing what they have to say by prejudging them as MAGA. It’s absurd, petty and childish. It’s flat out wrong.
Many parents have had enough, and I for one am grateful people like this author are brave enough to counter the false narratives promoted on this paper and widely in CA, as this state fails so many students.
It certainly is time to be honest! Check out the group that recruited and is paying for the campaigns of candidates referenced in the article. SVARW-Silicon valley association of Republican women. Read the views they support, and the false claims they make about our public education system. For example: 1. They believe Public K-12 systems teach critical race theory(CRT). FALSE! It is not part of our state curriculum 2. They believe SEL is used to “indoctrinate” students. Social Emotional learning (SEL) is about supporting each child to acquire skills to manage emotions and develop healthy identities, with the knowledge that this will improve learning. 3. They believe parents should decide which books belong in school libraries. This would be a recipe for disaster. How would we get consensus among all parents?? I agree all board members should be willing to question the status quo. I also believe the parent voice is critical to strong schools. A variety of perspectives and voices on a board can certainly be beneficial. That being said, there is no false narrative in the original article. These candidates do not appear to be sincerely running to improve our public schools. They obviously have political agendas that would not benefit the future of our students.
Thank you for this sane view of the need for parents involve in school boards.
Thank you Time to be Honest for standing up to the group think comments trying to push ideas that work to further divide americans and take down this country to bad path.
The changes in school and anger from the leftists remind me of what I fled in Vietnam.
I am voting for Matt Mahan to keep Democracy.
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