We encourage comments from teachers. Please share your voice by adding a comment below.
“I just stumbled onto this site (www.utahsrepublic.org). Thank you for this. I am a teacher in ASD and feel so alone, as many teachers do, because of the corruption of the administration in the district. There needs to be a complete overhaul. I have personally seen them push some of the best teachers out. I want to do more, but when I do speak up about the way things are done, I always seem to get in trouble. My school had the opportunity to invest in a great history program, with pictures and displays and a curriculum. Our principal pushed to use our Trustlands money to pay for more “aids” to help out with students. All they really do is office work and what he wants. I believe in this country and want a great history curriculum to be enforced. The only thing the students are getting now are worksheets and little books to find answers. There is no “teaching” taking place or understanding of our great nation being professed. I want to do more. Hopefully I can, without getting into trouble or losing my job.
-Alpine School District Teacher
I was an employee of Alpine school district and attended many meetings were I encountered that heinous sign (“Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy”). It is also in the teacher learning center adjacent to the district office. It used to infuriate me, though I did not realize the ramifications at that time. I now teach history at a private school and am teaching my students about “true” American history. We are in fact learning this week about the difference between a democratic republic and a democracy. I admit I was not informed until I did my research. This was very timely.
-Former Alpine School District Teacher
Add to the voice of these teachers by commenting below.
I never thought I would choose a learning alternative for my own children after teaching in ASD for years. I taught at an excellent school, that was tightly traditional and the test scores were high. Unfortunately, choices were made at the district level to choose all kinds of experiments to raise test scores — without looking at these traditional schools that were so strong. So when it came time to educate my own children, ASD was in a mess with ‘fuzzy math’ ‘whole language’ and too many college interns who were full time teachers.
My own children began their formal educations at a charter school. Our neighborhood school is packed, full of interns, has a high teacher turn over, and a principal that pushed for Investigations Math to come into ASD. My children score in the 95-99 percentile in all areas of the IOWA testing and CRT.
At this point, I believe it will be in the best interest of the growing cities areas like Lehi to form their own disctrict away from the ASD control. ASD is years behind in educating our children and the problem will only get worse as funding drops and classrooms are packed and overcrowded.
ASD has some phenomenal people — they just don’t ever get their voices heard.
As a math teacher in the Alpine School District right now it is only a dream that we really teach our students to understand math. I teach an advanced Algebra 2 class and have a majority of my students that can not add two basic fractions together. How am I to teach an advanced math students to ones who have not been taught basic math in earlier grades. I spend much of my time teaching Pre Algebra, Algebra and even basic math and not advanced math topics.
WE need a cultural shift within and without the schools before we will make real progress. Schools, districts, teachers, students, administrators and parents need to desire a real education, not just grades and test scores.
Thanks to Oak and others who are working to make this shift.
Wayne, you were my sons math teacher for two years. I want to thank you for being such a great math teacher. He spoke very highly of you and learned so much in your classes. I wasn’t sure at first if he had gotten into the math classes where fuzzy math was being taught. I was so glad to find out that he got a solid traditional math base from you. Thank you for teaching traditional math!!! We appreciate you so much!
As a fellow teacher in the district, I want to thank you for having the guts to speak out.
“I want to do more. Hopefully I can, without getting into trouble or losing my job.”
My wife teaches at a charter school here in Utah County. She also shares the above concern. Because schools, public, charter and private, are all top-down hierarchies, and because of power-hungry administrators and school board members hold so much power over teachers, they fear for their jobs.
Schools were supposed to be training grounds for children to learn how to be good citizens of our free society. If their teachers are terrorized into compliance, how will they teach your children to value freedom when they have so little?
Almost every teacher that I know only wants what is best for kids. This website is not helping those teachers. This website seems to attacking the teachers for everything under the sun with ASD. Teachers have stood up against the district. There is no fear for doing this (as Try Freedom states)- that’s why we have the AEA (Alpine Education Association) it protects us from being fired over silly things like retaliation from administrators. The messages of this website are only going to hurt the teachers. There is not one single teacher who is teaching kids to be communists. This website is trying to get people relied up against the district when in actuality it is making parents not trust their students’ teachers. If we lose trust in teachers then we have failed as a society.
I am more well trained to teach children than almost anyone I know is trained to do their job. I spent 5 years in college to become a teacher and I continue to take college classes every year; the vast 80% of my courses have been in education. Why do the administrators of this website think they know how to teach better than I do? This website appears to want to remove current board members who trust teachers with board members who don’t trust teachers. One of this site’s candidates wants to turn ASD into a bunch of charter schools- which lots of data shows are ineffective; another candidate wants to promote more homeschooling; another one wants to promote their personal version of the correct way to do math; and another one who wants to put their personal religious views into ASD (all of these claims are supported by statements on the websites of the endorsed candidates of this website).
Please stop helping parents to fear their teachers. That is not helping make education better. If you really want to change ASD then figure out what teachers want and work with them- not against them.
Smith, we are sorry if our message is not getting through clearly to some people. We in no way want to hurt teachers. You are right, almost every teacher we know only wants what is best for children. Most of them do an awesome job and we commend and support them. But what happens if a teacher’s or district’s belief system is completely different than the child’s? Is it the teacher’s job to change the belief system of the child because he “knows” better and has gone through 5 years of training? Or is it the teacher’s obligation to honor the parents who trust the teacher with their child?
Because of this dilemma, we want our teachers to concentrate on academics and not be forced to teach any part of John Goodlad’s Democracy Agenda in the classroom because a district is pushing it. Our concern has always been that Progressive Education is being taught from the district level without most parents in the area realizing it. Readers should look up Progressive Education to see what we are talking about. Most parents in this district send their children to school to learn traditional academics, some extra-curricular and a little socialization and fun. They have no idea that the goal of this district is Progressive Education. Why isn’t that advertised in their literature? It is touted in many schools throughout the nation, why not here?
We’re not telling parents to fear their teachers at all. We’re asking parents to to be involved, to know what is being taught. We want them to support good curriculum and good teachers. If we disagree with a certain curriculum because it is against our beliefs or it doesn’t help a child reach their full potential but slows their progress, we should speak up and expect that teachers and administrators listen. Obviously, our school board members need to listen much more than they are. Parents DELEGATE the job of teaching to schools, but that doesn’t mean schools should teach things which are contrary to a family’s belief system. When a school district follows a Progressive Education model built by a man who hates capitalism and says that capitalism cannot co-exist with his version of democracy, clearly we should speak up. When our administrators attend national training meetings which push radical agendas which we believe will ultimately hurt our children and nation, we have every right and duty to speak up. When administrators serve as executive members of national organizations which invite Bill Ayers and other socialists to speak about the political and activist purpose of schooling, it’s time for parents to speak up.
This agenda might not be found in every classroom in ASD, but it is obviously being taught around the district in some classrooms and being pushed at the district level and nationally. This is not about fear at all. This is about shining the light on some disturbing things which have been going on in the district for some time. Parents and citizens pay for public education through all of their state income taxes and most of their property taxes. They should be in charge of what is being taught and keep it consistent with the beliefs of the community. Please don’t tell me that all teachers know more than parents because they’ve gone to liberal universities which teach them all about John Dewey and other education reformers. I’m a teacher. I’ve gone through the program. I love children too. But I also realize how this seeps into the classroom and I’d like both parents and teachers to work together to teach the best academics and true Constitutional principles while keeping political agendas out of the classroom.
All of the candidates we support have these same goals in mind. Your broad assumptions are untrue. They only want to improve our public schools. As far as your last comment, on the contrary: If you really want to improve ASD, then figure out what the PARENTS (not teachers) want and work with them-not against them. You are getting paid by the parents and these precious children belong to them, not the state or the school.
Smith, As a fellow teacher in the district I find your comments unfounded and absurd. I do only want what is best for my, and all, students. I work extremely hard at what I do. The only problems I ever have come from the district. The AEA is a joke! The AEA is struggling right now and are trying everything they can to get teachers to join. I have personally known over 30 teachers that have dropped their memberships because when they needed help the AEA always sided with the district on matters. There is a lot of fear in speaking up against the district.
I have never taken offense to anything that has been said on this site or any others about teachers. If you really read what is being said they all praise teachers. They express concerns with district and administrative personal. This website is working to help parents and teachers.
It is good for Smith to convey his view of things because it adds important information and perspective and helps clarify the issues. I appreciate his unput. Of small note, however, his writing is punctuated with grammar and punctuation errors, as are many communiques from the schools. We would do well to hold to a little higher standard.
In regard to the subject at hand, he sees some things in this site that are not evident to me. The site is a watchdog venue and gives voice to bona fide complaints. Those complaints may not be universal or even indicative of the majority of the district, but it would be inaccurate to say they are meaningless.
Unput? And you think he should be held to a higher standard?
@ A thought,
I would appreciate that ALL comments on this site be held to a higher standard, including yours. You chose to leave a comment about an innocent typo instead of a worthwhile response centered on ideas and facts. Perhaps you are only pointing out that ASD should put academics before social engineering so the population will excel at writing, mathematics and critical thinking skills. Then in that case, we agree. Thank you for bringing this up and I shall expect a higher standard out of your next comment.
Smith made a worthwhile comment that moved discussion forward. John countered with two thoughts. The first attacked punctuation and grammatical errors in Smith’s comment. In so doing he himself made a spelling error. In his comment he attempted to politely discredit Smith in our eyes because Smith did not proofread his comment. He did not hold himself to the same standard. I pointed out the irony. You ridiculed my comment although his comment didn’t bother you. This may be because he used more words and this fits with your “higher standard”. Or it may be that you don’t look for fault in comments that support your own ideas. Either way I stand reprimanded.
My typing skills have nothing to do with my education or ability to teach. Unlike you, I am not out in the world to tear people down. I understand that people make typos all the time- imagine what kind of teacher I would be if I wasn’t understanding about things like that.
Susie, if you want to hold things to a higher standard then you should take this site off the web. This site has done little besides through conjecture around without real proof. How about Buffy claiming I said something that I never said? You should probably encourage your followers to actually confirm what they claim happened without manipulating what their kids may or may not have said.
Derek, my child has come home with many interesting ideas from your class. We spoke once already about one of them. And I do understand that things relayed from a child may not be exactly right. But when he comes home and starts telling me all of the reasons that Communism “really isn’t that bad,” (those were his words) I get concerned. He certainly didn’t learn that from me and it was a great opportunity to talk about principles of government and freedom. There are several issues that have come home from your class which have caused me concern, but I haven’t made the time to initiate another amicable discussion. If you’d like to discuss them privately, I’ve been meaning to. My comments on here were not a personal attack. They were simply addressing the fact that teachers (not just you by the way) in the district have been influenced by progressive thought. Like I told you before, you are one of my child’s favorite teachers. You must be doing some things right. But I think we need to be able to openly discuss the biases being taught in your classroom without villifying concerned parents and turning this into an “attack on teachers.” The content being taught in the classroom should be open for discussion. These are impressionable young minds you are working with. And even if my child relayed something that was completely off base, what he thinks you said matters.
@Buffy,
Great point. It’s most important what kids internalize as truth even if they don’t hear every word correctly. In my experience with my older kids in Jr. High or High School, they all knew exactly if a teacher was proud of the Founding Fathers and our Constitution, if a teacher taught just the opposite, or if they stayed neutral and taught facts. One comment misconstrued rarely sways a child to misunderstand the overall teachings of that instructor. Usually it takes weeks or months of remarks to know where a teacher is coming from. Our kids are smart enough to know the difference and usually convey that to a parent when asked. Parents also know which of our children we can trust with accuracy in their assessments and which children we need to question further.
Buffy, if you truly wanted to contact me privately you would have, and you would not continue to post about me on this site. You are attempting to twist my teachings and words in order to promote your personal political agenda.
I am a career educator trying to perform my job to the best of my abilities as directed by the state core curriculum. I cannot please all the parents of my students, I can merely teach in the most effective ways I know how- through my education, experience, and collaboration with other educators.
Every human being has bias and it will show through at times; I will say though, that my students do not know my personal religion, political affiliations, or economic leanings. I hope you can see that is pretty good for someone trying to teach to ALL spectrums of children (not just to one religion, one socio-economic level, or one political party) about all the issues happening in the world.
I will simply say that you once again have attacked me. If you, or anyone else cannot see the attacks in your comments then I will not beleaguer the issue. I was not “villifying” a “concerned parent”, all I have done is point out that you took inaccurate information and used it to promote your personal bias about what is happening in ASD. I will not be used for manipulative purposes. As my profession relies on my reputation (which I believe is very positive) in ASD, I publicly ask that you cease and desist defaming my character through slander and libel.
Personally I love the transparency that this site has created. This is exactly what ASD needs; more transparency. I would hope that every teacher or administrator who feels discredited would come forward and state their case.
I applaud Buffy for taking this head on.
I hate to quote Julian Assange in this forum but I have to agree with him when he said “The media helps keep government honest.” In the same respects I believe this site does the same for ASD.
Just an observation – but in reading the discussions on this site I see that Buffy was not the one to reveal who her son’s teacher was. Derek – you identified yourself first. That’s a brave thing to do, but you certainly cannot claim libelor slander when Buffy was careful enough not to reveal the name of the teacher she was discussing. It’s too bad that this conversation continued in a public setting – it’s always best for parents and teachers to discuss concerns – but admittedly it’s a difficult thing to do! It’s always easier to “say” what you want to say in print rather than in person. But I believe this website in it’s design and creation is a public forum to be used for discussing the good and bad of ASD. Unlike the district which has taken a very large and mis-calculated step into the internet world of posting opinion through the district website, email services etc. one employees sarcastic comments towards parents -this website and it’s creators aren’t district employees and I think have done a good job of presenting facts, not hysteria, and are doing parents a service by providing information that is definitely not forth-coming from the district itself. Buffy has a right to express her concerns about what her child told her, and she was kind enough to do it without revealing names. We are all parents here. We understand kids get things wrong, but the point is whether or not the CHILD believes and internalizes what they’ve heard or think they’ve heard.
Derek, I am happy to contact you personally.
As a teacher, I have never advocated to students to not believe what their parents believe. Have I urged them to question why they believe what they do? Of course. This is the path to knowing who you are and making good life choices. It is the path to understanding your beliefs so that when someone challenges it, they don’t fall apart. It is the skill that every creator of this website used to create this website and challenge ASD.
I don’t have any idea who this Goodard character is. All I know is that I want students to learn. I want to help kids, and I want parents to help me help them.
I must admit, I am confused about when this website says that parents are the sole providers of morality. Let me clarify: I’m not confused about that point–I agree wholeheartedly–but I am confused by the fact that parents say they want to be the moral guide, but then ask teachers not to mark assignments wrong because “it hurts their student’s feelings,” or when parents repeatedly ask for their kids to turn in late work–even if it’s two or three months late. Or if a parent attacks a teacher because the student got in trouble for not following a school procedure. How is that moral guidance? As a teacher, I feel more and more the pressure to teach kids responsibility and respect because I don’t feel it’s being done at home. I am getting attacked and abused by students, yet it is my fault that when a kid doesn’t feel good about himself.
Maybe we should be focusing on what we can control–what’s going on in our homes–rather than attacking those who are spending their own money, bringing their own supplies, and finding their own curriculum to support the core; in other words, those who are doing their best to be good educators.
Thank you Jane. I agree with your comments and you sound like a great caring teacher. To clarify, we’re not attacking teachers. We’re concerned about the district following an agenda written by a man who has morals and values in direct opposition to this community. Sometimes parents write in to give examples of how this agenda is creeping into the classrooms. It is in no way a part of every class. We know that great things are happening because of teachers like you. I’m glad you don’t know about Goodlad. You are better off. Keep doing great work and check out the rest of our site to realize what the real issue is.
I just saw an article on KSL.com with Oak bringing up the old “communism isn’t so bad quote” in front of state legislators.
I have taught about modern economic systems for 20 years. No economic system is perfect. I am sure the question in class posed by the teacher was similar to the approach of many teachers, “Why did communism sound so appealing to so many?” Student then list why they system sounded so attractive to those who had lived under serfdom. That is then compared to the advantages and flaws of Socialism, Capitalism and how communism was practiced. This in no way promotes communism over capitalism or leads students to conclude that communism wasn’t so bad.
I’m glad the student had a conversation with his family about it as teachers hope their students will. But that doesn’t mean the teacher was brainwashed by progressive philosophy and was promoting a socialist agenda. It means the student was in the process of learning. Not all lessons are taught in a single class period. Not all students grasp a lesson the first time around. And the method of having students compare and contrast economic philosophies and how they were practiced is not cause for alarm. In fact,the state core instructs teachers to do so. I believe that Utahns value looking at both sides of an issue.
So Oak and others, please stop taking examples out of context to insinuate that as Senator Buttars put it, “the curriculum being taught in sometimes doesn’t align with Utah values.” And please don’t vilify the education system for asking students to investigate whether the world is as black and white as some think. How could a student make an argument for capitalism if they didn’t understand the critiques of the system and why so many others have/had different economic systems?
On another note, I also want to publicly state that in the time that I have worked for Alpine School district, I have not always agreed with policies and decisions. But I have felt free to discuss my concerns with administrators and other teachers without any fear. I just want to let readers know that the statements on this website about how teachers live in fear of the district are not held by every teacher, and I don’t feel like I am a “yes” man to the district. But I feel that my disagreements have been handled in a professional manner. This website is NOT the voice for me as an individual and as an employee of the Alpine School District and I want readers to know that not every teacher agrees with the positions taken and methods used by this website.
Derek: I have never met you, but as a former ASD high school teacher, I had the pleasure of working with many of your former students. Thank you for teaching them how to think critically, to look at all sides of an issue before forming an opinion, and to be excited and curious about learning! You are an inspiration. I would love for my own children to learn from you someday. Keep up the good work.
(And for the record, I LOVED teaching for ASD. I taught in three countries and two states before my stint in ASD and by far ASD is the most value-driven, supportive, concerned group I’ve ever worked with. Of course no organization is perfect, but I trust my children to this amazing group of educators. The people that complain about them have no idea what they’ve got. I heart ASD!)
I have read through all the comments and just wanted to say that I am grateful to be in the ASD. We came from the Provo school district and it was a nightmare, to say the least. I switched to homeschooling just to “save” my kids from a teacher trying to fit everyone into her personal little box in first grade and many other issues. Four other children were pulled from this teacher’s class. Anyway, I do feel that it is important that parents know what is being taught to their children. We are entrusting our children to teachers and put our faith in them that they will be treated fairly, kindly and taught the things necessary to help them succeed. I feel that it is the parent’s responsibility to be their moral compass, but when it isn’t working out in the classroom than the parents and teacher need to come together and work things out. With that said, I hope that my kids are learning american history and the history of the founding fathers and contents of the constitution. I know at our school, the choir group is doing a production on the establishment of the USA. This makes me hope that my specific school is pointing them in the right direction. I do feel that it is also our responsibility as parents to take the opportunity to teach our children history whenever possible. We should take any and every opportunity to teach them. I am glad there are sights out there like this to inform us so that we can be aware and ask the questions to our own school. Hopefully socialism and communism will not be pushed onto them.
Lisa, there are certainly wonderful things happening in ASD and I’m glad things are going well for you. My kids have had some great teachers here too. But I’m so glad you realize we still have to teach our kids and know what they are learning. This week I was dictating famous great quotes of Washington to celebrate his birthday, when my 8 year old daughter stopped me and gave me the weirdest look. She said, “But mom! He’s not even Christian! Why would he say these things?”. She said two separate 2nd grade teachers told these 6 and 7 year olds that George Washington was not even a Christian. Why on earth would a teacher even bring up the subject to such young children? All they need to know are the basics. If some teacher mistakenly believes that Washington and other Founders were Deists, why would they think it’s appropriate to bring that up to such young children? I hope in your teaching, you teach your children about the Christian heritage of this nation from original sources, because public schools and textbooks are not just leaving it out, sometimes they teach false information. And here I thought I was teaching her this for the first time. Didn’t realize at 8 years old, I’d have to de-program her young mind because someone with false info got to her first.
Have any of your wonderful teachers thought to send your collective (sorry for the word choice) stories to Glenn Beck or Hannity? You will lose your jobs, but you will be on TV and probably be paid a lot more to write a book about your experiences that will make you all well to do and do a great service to mankind. I am a former teacher of Alpine School District (Pleasant Grove Highschool). Fortunately when I taught there it was still a traditional school with a great principal and some of the best teachers I ever encountered. To give away my age there were NO teacher unions and the teachers didn’t treat “contact time” with students like exposure to germs. When there were activities that needed chaperones the principal passed the list in faculty meeting on Monday morning all.
Google “Social Justice, a Code Word for Communism” to see what you are involved in. It is the final war for the hearts and minds of mankind!
Has anyone contacted Elder Oaks and given him the information on how BYU’s Dept. chief is “enculturating” BYU students away from his teachings and those of the rest of the Board of Directors of the University. Excellent comments here. Please let me know if any of you have gone to the head to irradicate the disease in the body (ie BYU Ed department) which is a cancer growing in the districts of the area as a result.