Bullying has Taken the Place of Academic Discourse in Minnesota

I recently did a podcast interview with a literacy professor here in Minnesota.  She felt that she needed to be anonymous in order to engage in an academic discussion about reading instruction.  Many teachers feel the same way.  They feel that their job would be in jeopardy if they were to honestly discuss The Read Act in a public forum.  They are being silenced. 

In Minnesota, teachers and professors are afraid to speak out because of the possible repercussions.  This is a sad statement about the state of education in Minnesota, a state that used to be a leader in education. 

At colleges and universities, reading inquisitors come in and "audit" our reading syllabi.  They look to see if we’re teaching the right sorts of things and make sure we’re not teaching the wrong sorts of things.  Professors like me who have spent decades researching literacy are told what to teach by people who don’t know enough to know what they don’t know.  Inquisitors with little to no expertise in literacy are deciding what I must include in my literacy methods courses.  And if we don’t use approved textbooks and teach what the profiteers say is important, our programs won’t be accredited.  We will lose students.  Faculty will lose their jobs.

In Minnesota, we can’t have an honest, open discussion.  Teachers and professors are being silenced, disempowered, demeaned, and discredited. In Minnesota, bullying has taken the place of academic discourse. In Minnesota, Science of Reading advocates can't make their case in an academic forum, so they instead use politicians to threaten and bully those of us who have devoted our lives to helping all children achieve their full literacy potential. They allow non-academic groups like the International Dyslexia Association and the Reading League Minnesota to make decisions about what should be taught in higher education.

I thought Minnesota was better than this. Apparently, we're not. Apparently, we're worse than this.