Katie Hobbs Rebukes Kari Lake’s Plan to Impose the Hillsdale Curriculum on Arizona Public Schools

After she lost her primary election in 2018 to Frank Riggs (who would fall to defeat to Kathy Hoffman that November,) then Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas called on the State Board of Education to replace the State Education Standards with the Hillsdale Curriculum, a private school program that originated in Michigan.

At that board meeting, speaker after speaker objected to the replacement of the Hillsdale Curriculum, noting its sectarian overtones with regards to its science components and its Eurocentric-Western emphasis in its History scope and sequence.

At that meeting, no one on the then Board of Education rose up to support Douglas’s Hillsdale idea.

However, like private school voucher expansion, this bad penny of an education idea has turned up again in Republican Gubernatorial Kari Lake’s educational platform.

Why?

Because this curriculum has its roots and supporters in Donald Trump’s 1776 Project which sought to give a “Birth of a Nation” white nationalist perspective to United States History to refute the 1619 Project and other history curricula (like the College Board) that gives a thorough, critical and unbiased accounting of the nation’s past which includes episodes where the country’s leaders engaged in imperialistic and discriminatory practices from Columbus to the present.

In her platform comments on Hillsdale, the Lake Campaign stated:

“Arizona schools should not be used as factories to churn out deliberately mis-educated progressive activists. Accordingly, we will align state standards to the Hillsdale 1776 curriculum, and end the progressive indoctrination of students being undertaken in concert with the a-historical and factually inaccurate 1619 Project curriculum. Even the authors of the 1619 Project admit is not history, but an attempt to build and control a narrative for political purposes. Unlike the 1619 Project, the Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum is factually accurate, presents a balanced view of U.S. history, and is available for free to schools across the country.”

In the next section, she goes after Critical Race Theory (which does not exist in public schools,) diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, offering:

“In line with the shift to a more balanced and historically accurate narrative in history and social studies, we will strengthen Arizona’s ban on Critical Race Theory, and any associated curriculum (including Social-Emotional Learning and Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs) which have adopted the tenants of CRT in their materials. These programs have created a culture of fear and race-based animosity which are tearing our schools and our kids apart. Kids are afraid to speak their minds for fear of retribution from peers and school officials alike. It has to stop.

Martin Luther King Jr. had it exactly right when he called for a nation where people would be judged on the content of their character, and not the color of their skin. We’re going to get Arizona back to that ideal.

Despite what the radical indoctrinators peddling this garbage will say, the United States was not and is not built on a foundation of racism. We do not need to view all outcomes as a result of race. And telling students that they are either oppressors or oppressed based on pigmentation is evil. We won’t tolerate it, and will root out this hateful indoctrination, no matter how many times practitioners try to re-brand their garbage ideology.”

It is obvious from these obtuse “policy statements” that Ms. Lake has no sense of United States Historical awareness and no idea what is happening in schools.

Schools and children are not being torn apart by any “culture of fear and race-based animosity.” There is no “hateful indoctrination” being performed by the state’s history teachers.

The only indoctrination being proposed is Ms. Lakes inclusion of the 1776 Curriculum.

Apparently what Ms. Lake has a problem with, similar to German, Austrian, and East European parents who were Holocaust deniers after World War Two, is the truth about what happened in the nation’s history being told to all children and opening their minds to what horrific acts people can be motivated and driven to do.

Her solution is the same prescription as theirs: to deny it in their child’s education program.

Her not wanting to promote inclusion and equity seems to also fall in line with Trumpist-White Nationalist-Neo Nazi/Fascists beliefs as well.

Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Katie Hobbs rebuked Ms. Lakes extremist ideas for putting the 1776 Hillsdale Curriculum in Arizona’s public schools, commenting for Blog for Arizona:

“It is no surprise that Kari Lake fully supports imposing an extreme curriculum devised by a college on the other side of the country. Her out-of-touch ideas for addressing our state’s struggling education system include putting cameras in classrooms to give stalkers, Big Brother, and big tech the ability to spy on our children.”

“As governor, I will work to ensure all Arizona students have access to quality education, regardless of background, by raising teacher pay to bring the state in line with the national average, bringing sorely needed accountability to private institutions that are siphoning taxpayer dollars traditionally used by public schools, and making sure teachers and students have the personnel and resources they need to thrive.”

Voters in 2022 have a choice to make on November 8.

Do they want the Gubernatorial Candidate (Kari Lake) that will attack history teachers, perpetuate historical and cultural amnesia on Arizona’s children and indoctrinate them to follow the white nationalist perspective?

Or

Do they want the Gubernatorial Candidate (Katie Hobbs) that will support teachers and a standards based mainstream curriculum where students are taught the truth about the nations past and to respect everyone regardless of their background.

This should not be a tough choice for Arizona voters in 77 days.