A Minnesota gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Neil Shah, launched a petition to stop teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools. Shah, a “husband, father, physician, business owner and son of immigrants,” is one of six Republican candidates in the 2022 governor race.
Shah is passionate about school choice and opposing Critical Race Theory in schools. As The Minnesota Sun reported, school choice is one of Shah’s campaign issues. His campaign website reads, “How could my parents, clearly brown and clearly different, have succeeded in a systemically racist country? How could a systemically racist country have elected a black president – twice? How can black immigrants from Nigeria outperform whites by a large margin if our country has systems to keep blacks from succeeding?”
The petition regarding CRT says, “Decentralization and school choice are necessary to root out special interests, restore parental autonomy in education, and provide a higher quality of education for all Minnesotans. This issue is of critical importance if we are to preserve liberty and Minnesotan values for future generations.”
Shah says that in order to “restore parents’ rights in education,” things need to change. He outlined some specific steps that should be taken.
The petition asks that mask mandates in K-12 schools be reversed to allow parents to make the decision on whether to mask their child or not.
It also states that CRT should not be taught in schools, because it is a “racist and Marxist” ideology. Shah calls it an “agenda” that is being pushed on children. He believes that agendas like that do not belong in K-12 schools.
The petition also asks that schools “be free from adhering to the Minnesota Department of Education’s curriculum if they so choose. Decentralizing education ensures that curricula are selected and implemented at the school board level where they can be tailored to best serve the unique needs of students in each community.”
Decentralizing education is another way that school choice can come into play, Shah believes.
The number of signatures on the petition was not immediately available.
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun and The Wisconsin Daily Star | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Dr. Neil Shah” by Dr. Neil Shah.
