Serious Answers Only—How to Fix MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offer parents supplemental support for special needs and behavioral problems OUTSIDE of the regular school day, like a Saturday class. While their kids are participating in the supplemental class, they stay in the regular core curriculum during the school day. Create separate curriculums for students that don't improve with supplemental support or decline supplemental support. Place double or triple staff in those special curriculum classes. Increase number of students per teacher in the core curriculum classes to free up staffing.

I think this will lead many parents of kids with mild deficiencies to think twice before claiming an iep, leading to more resources available for students that need it more. It will also incentivize parents who don't generally pay attention to their kids education, both by giving them a clear threat (your kid will move class) and a clear goal (improve behavior/learning). And it will give them help to improve.

Many parents may balk at this because of the extra time requirement placed on them or their kids. Well, they can choose to send their kids to the special curriculum and keep their time.

They already offer this. Saturday School. Been around for years and it’s free. Has not made a difference in outcomes.

Great. The second part of my suggestion is to mandate it for any child on an IEP or with behavioral issues, as a requirement for staying in the core curriculum classes. The third part is to create special curriculum classes for students who decline Saturday supplement or don't improve.

The point is to discourage parents from abusing the iep system, and also incentivize parents (and students) who aren't otherwise actively involved or refuse to even try to improve.

Not all kids with ieps have behavioral or academic concerns and Saturday school is a good idea but not the fix.

True, there are students with physical disabilities. All students should be helped, but the goal should be to transition to normal instruction in the core curriculum, not permanent special instruction until they graduate. If a student can't resume core curriculum without special instruction, they will be best served in a special curriculum class.

I realize that's probably not a popular opinion in this forum, filled with worried iep parents looking for ideas, but the silent majority of NT students need to speak up because our classroom instruction is being overwhelmed with administrative iep legal requirements. And no disincentive to claim any iep.

If you want this you need to go advocate for watering down the IDEA. By all means, speak up, please.

There's no need to water down any protections for individuals with disabilities. The problem is with how it's implemented, which has no disincentive for parents to seek IEP for any learning deficit. We're allowing a few parents to game the system and draw resources away from the kids with disabilities that IDEA was meant to protect.

You’re obviously arguing against inclusive classrooms, which is a a fundamental component of IDEA’s requirement to educate kids by bringing in services/supports into the least restrictive environment.

NP - We can argue that it has been a failed experiment. There are many, many kids who would be better off in segregated classrooms, as would many other kids whose education is harmed by their disruptions/needed effort by the teacher.

PP - We need IDEA. It creates important protections for disabled children. I don't want to risk going back to the days when disabled kids couldn't get a public education. However, it needs to be implemented better to discourage gaming by parents looking for an advantage for their healthy child with an academic deficit. The solution is within the Act, which allows an IEP to include supplement outside school days. I would argue requires it. Put that in every IEP to discourage parents with mild deficits.

And who cares about the students getting private services on Saturdays, or that need more than once-a-week services.

As was brought up before, many students with so-called "mild" disabilities don't receive or need pull-out services. So you're basically advocating for Saturday detention for kids with disabilities. How big of you.

Again, please switch to a private school. No student with a disability should risk getting stuck with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids have been in MCPS for 15 years and I’m just disgusted by the decline. Wondering if anyone has ideas to fix the many problems in MCPS?

Can you be more specific about this perceived decline? Is it about the drop in standardized test scores mainly due to county demographic changes or the 300% increase in special services due to the rise in various private diagnoses like ADHD in the more affluent areas? I understand that things are different today than when I was in MCPS 30 years ago, but I feel my kids are getting as good or better education than I received when I was at Churchill back in the early 90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offer parents supplemental support for special needs and behavioral problems OUTSIDE of the regular school day, like a Saturday class. While their kids are participating in the supplemental class, they stay in the regular core curriculum during the school day. Create separate curriculums for students that don't improve with supplemental support or decline supplemental support. Place double or triple staff in those special curriculum classes. Increase number of students per teacher in the core curriculum classes to free up staffing.

I think this will lead many parents of kids with mild deficiencies to think twice before claiming an iep, leading to more resources available for students that need it more. It will also incentivize parents who don't generally pay attention to their kids education, both by giving them a clear threat (your kid will move class) and a clear goal (improve behavior/learning). And it will give them help to improve.

Many parents may balk at this because of the extra time requirement placed on them or their kids. Well, they can choose to send their kids to the special curriculum and keep their time.

They already offer this. Saturday School. Been around for years and it’s free. Has not made a difference in outcomes.

Great. The second part of my suggestion is to mandate it for any child on an IEP or with behavioral issues, as a requirement for staying in the core curriculum classes. The third part is to create special curriculum classes for students who decline Saturday supplement or don't improve.

The point is to discourage parents from abusing the iep system, and also incentivize parents (and students) who aren't otherwise actively involved or refuse to even try to improve.

Not all kids with ieps have behavioral or academic concerns and Saturday school is a good idea but not the fix.

True, there are students with physical disabilities. All students should be helped, but the goal should be to transition to normal instruction in the core curriculum, not permanent special instruction until they graduate. If a student can't resume core curriculum without special instruction, they will be best served in a special curriculum class.

I realize that's probably not a popular opinion in this forum, filled with worried iep parents looking for ideas, but the silent majority of NT students need to speak up because our classroom instruction is being overwhelmed with administrative iep legal requirements. And no disincentive to claim any iep.

If you want this you need to go advocate for watering down the IDEA. By all means, speak up, please.

There's no need to water down any protections for individuals with disabilities. The problem is with how it's implemented, which has no disincentive for parents to seek IEP for any learning deficit. We're allowing a few parents to game the system and draw resources away from the kids with disabilities that IDEA was meant to protect.

You’re obviously arguing against inclusive classrooms, which is a a fundamental component of IDEA’s requirement to educate kids by bringing in services/supports into the least restrictive environment.

NP - We can argue that it has been a failed experiment. There are many, many kids who would be better off in segregated classrooms, as would many other kids whose education is harmed by their disruptions/needed effort by the teacher.

PP - We need IDEA. It creates important protections for disabled children. I don't want to risk going back to the days when disabled kids couldn't get a public education. However, it needs to be implemented better to discourage gaming by parents looking for an advantage for their healthy child with an academic deficit. The solution is within the Act, which allows an IEP to include supplement outside school days. I would argue requires it. Put that in every IEP to discourage parents with mild deficits.

And who cares about the students getting private services on Saturdays, or that need more than once-a-week services.

As was brought up before, many students with so-called "mild" disabilities don't receive or need pull-out services. So you're basically advocating for Saturday detention for kids with disabilities. How big of you.

Again, please switch to a private school. No student with a disability should risk getting stuck with you.

So a student who needs multiple private services a week can't attend a public supplement outside school days, because that would be detention? Just switch out one of those costly privates for the free public.

Another student is on an IEP, yet couldn't benefit from supplemental education? No, any student with an IEP needs supplemental instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

DP. That depends on which "concerned parents" and what the parents are concerned about, no?

I also agree with the substance of the post. I am the expert in my child (along with my child), and I have parental authority over my child. I am not the expert on teaching or learning, and I don't have parental authority over children who are not my child. Parents who want to micromanage their children's education need to home-school.

[Anonymous]

Did they inflate grades and have a record number of absences in the 90s too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they inflate grades and have a record number of absences in the 90s too?

Did they have a global, society-altering pandemic in the 90s too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offer parents supplemental support for special needs and behavioral problems OUTSIDE of the regular school day, like a Saturday class. While their kids are participating in the supplemental class, they stay in the regular core curriculum during the school day. Create separate curriculums for students that don't improve with supplemental support or decline supplemental support. Place double or triple staff in those special curriculum classes. Increase number of students per teacher in the core curriculum classes to free up staffing.

I think this will lead many parents of kids with mild deficiencies to think twice before claiming an iep, leading to more resources available for students that need it more. It will also incentivize parents who don't generally pay attention to their kids education, both by giving them a clear threat (your kid will move class) and a clear goal (improve behavior/learning). And it will give them help to improve.

Many parents may balk at this because of the extra time requirement placed on them or their kids. Well, they can choose to send their kids to the special curriculum and keep their time.

They already offer this. Saturday School. Been around for years and it’s free. Has not made a difference in outcomes.

Great. The second part of my suggestion is to mandate it for any child on an IEP or with behavioral issues, as a requirement for staying in the core curriculum classes. The third part is to create special curriculum classes for students who decline Saturday supplement or don't improve.

The point is to discourage parents from abusing the iep system, and also incentivize parents (and students) who aren't otherwise actively involved or refuse to even try to improve.

Not all kids with ieps have behavioral or academic concerns and Saturday school is a good idea but not the fix.

True, there are students with physical disabilities. All students should be helped, but the goal should be to transition to normal instruction in the core curriculum, not permanent special instruction until they graduate. If a student can't resume core curriculum without special instruction, they will be best served in a special curriculum class.

I realize that's probably not a popular opinion in this forum, filled with worried iep parents looking for ideas, but the silent majority of NT students need to speak up because our classroom instruction is being overwhelmed with administrative iep legal requirements. And no disincentive to claim any iep.

If you want this you need to go advocate for watering down the IDEA. By all means, speak up, please.

There's no need to water down any protections for individuals with disabilities. The problem is with how it's implemented, which has no disincentive for parents to seek IEP for any learning deficit. We're allowing a few parents to game the system and draw resources away from the kids with disabilities that IDEA was meant to protect.

You’re obviously arguing against inclusive classrooms, which is a a fundamental component of IDEA’s requirement to educate kids by bringing in services/supports into the least restrictive environment.

NP - We can argue that it has been a failed experiment. There are many, many kids who would be better off in segregated classrooms, as would many other kids whose education is harmed by their disruptions/needed effort by the teacher.

PP - We need IDEA. It creates important protections for disabled children. I don't want to risk going back to the days when disabled kids couldn't get a public education. However, it needs to be implemented better to discourage gaming by parents looking for an advantage for their healthy child with an academic deficit. The solution is within the Act, which allows an IEP to include supplement outside school days. I would argue requires it. Put that in every IEP to discourage parents with mild deficits.

And who cares about the students getting private services on Saturdays, or that need more than once-a-week services.

As was brought up before, many students with so-called "mild" disabilities don't receive or need pull-out services. So you're basically advocating for Saturday detention for kids with disabilities. How big of you.

Again, please switch to a private school. No student with a disability should risk getting stuck with you.

So a student who needs multiple private services a week can't attend a public supplement outside school days, because that would be detention? Just switch out one of those costly privates for the free public.

Another student is on an IEP, yet couldn't benefit from supplemental education? No, any student with an IEP needs supplemental instruction.

It’s detention for the various students with disabilities that don’t require or currently receive pull-out services. What would you have them do on Saturdays?

The idea that you think you could “switch out” the private services for school-based services demonstrates how very little you know about these services. I hope you’re a different poster from the teacher in this thread, because it’s hard to imagine a imagine a teacher being so oblivious to that without willful ignorance.

Maybe you're old and were trained during the "good ol' days" when you could send students with special needs to segregated classrooms to forget about and hide them. If so, it's time for you to retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

DP. That depends on which "concerned parents" and what the parents are concerned about, no?

I also agree with the substance of the post. I am the expert in my child (along with my child), and I have parental authority over my child. I am not the expert on teaching or learning, and I don't have parental authority over children who are not my child. Parents who want to micromanage their children's education need to home-school.

It’s hard to imagine a situation where telling concerned parents (whether their concerns are reasonable or unreasonable) to shut uo and “know their place” is going to improve anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

DP. That depends on which "concerned parents" and what the parents are concerned about, no?

I also agree with the substance of the post. I am the expert in my child (along with my child), and I have parental authority over my child. I am not the expert on teaching or learning, and I don't have parental authority over children who are not my child. Parents who want to micromanage their children's education need to home-school.

It’s hard to imagine a situation where telling concerned parents (whether their concerns are reasonable or unreasonable) to shut uo and “know their place” is going to improve anything.

That is messaging/tone, though. Not content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

DP. That depends on which "concerned parents" and what the parents are concerned about, no?

I also agree with the substance of the post. I am the expert in my child (along with my child), and I have parental authority over my child. I am not the expert on teaching or learning, and I don't have parental authority over children who are not my child. Parents who want to micromanage their children's education need to home-school.

It’s hard to imagine a situation where telling concerned parents (whether their concerns are reasonable or unreasonable) to shut uo and “know their place” is going to improve anything.

That is messaging/tone, though. Not content.

Right. That’s exactly what I was cautioning— the tone and rhetoric, not the content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

PP here. Sometimes plain talk is necessary. Some of these people truly do need a comeuppance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

PP here. Sometimes plain talk is necessary. Some of these people truly do need a comeuppance.

Ahh, yes, telling someone to “know their place” is always a good way to engender trust, particularly when social values are at play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop trying to fix social issues using education. Focus on teaching and accept the fact that different kids perform differently. Build more accountability at all levels of MCPS. Stop closing the gap by bringing down high performing kids.

Education exists largely to provide what society needs, so I don’t even know what this means. Of course education should be mindful of social issues — it’s how we get a better society.

To “fix” MCPS and other schools, parents should step back and realize they are neither the experts nor are they in charge. I realize the internet has eroded trust in institutions and made everyone think they know better than actual experts about so many things. But there already exist channels for parents to have input on school policy, including curriculum. Layering on these attempts to micromanage individual classroom instruction, trying to protect children from discomfort in learning, when cognitive dissonance is often needed to achieve greater understanding, and seeking to do things like restrict or ban books and media in schools is harmful to your children and society as a whole.

Or, shorter version: Parents should listen more and talk less, know their place, and stay in their lane. People who know better than them about what children need to learn are in charge — let them do their jobs.

I don’t actually disagree with the substance of the specifics of this, but I hope you understand how counterproductive the tone and rhetoric of this post would be if it were to be communicated to concerned parents.

DP. That depends on which "concerned parents" and what the parents are concerned about, no?

I also agree with the substance of the post. I am the expert in my child (along with my child), and I have parental authority over my child. I am not the expert on teaching or learning, and I don't have parental authority over children who are not my child. Parents who want to micromanage their children's education need to home-school.

The “I am an expert on my child” but is valid but there’s a fine line between advocating particular needs and helicoptering and demanding acquiescence to your perceived needs, often at the expense of other children.

I argue they shouldn’t home school. They really should sit down, shut up and let their child learn from professionals.

One of the most bizarre complaints in recent years is the one where parents complain their white children feel guilty or ashamed of their skin color after lessons about slavery, equity, etc. Most of this reaction comes from a good, if ignorant place and an impulse to protect their children from discomfort. And many of these parents are just sick of this race talk already and think we live in a color blind society; their well-meaning parents likely taught them not to see color.

But here’s where letting the professionals handle this is better:

1) Sometimes learning *is* uncomfortable. Dealing with cognitive dissonance is necessary in order to become better educated, more empathetic, more enlightened and a better member of society in general; this will in turn actually move us closer to a genuine color-blind utopia. The problem is the parents never got this education themselves and so feel theatened and personally attacked. They consider themselves good people — and they probably are — but they are closed minded to considering other perspectives.

2) Your white child’s temporary discomfort in learning this material is fleeting. And it pales (no pun intended) in comparison to the discomfort people of other colors feel more regularly navigating our society. Trying to protect them from the discomfort instead helping to transcend it only reinforces bigotry.