MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Collierville should not be alone.
The school board in that east Shelby County suburb took appropriate action in approving a resolution last week supporting its teachers.
The fact that the board has to do that speaks to Gov. Bill Lee's inability to show some backbone and leadership. The governor should have long ago denounced disparaging remarks about teachers that were made recently by Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College in Michigan.
Among his numerous offensive comments were that teachers are trained in the dumbest sections of the dumbest colleges in the country. Lee was sitting at his side, but still refuses to disavow the comments. He wants Hillsdale to open dozens of charter schools in the state, so it was up to Collierville’s school board to make its own statement in defense of teachers.
Other school boards in Shelby County should follow suit. Now that the remarks have struck a nerve, the college and the governor insist that what was said – really wasn’t said. That Arnn was only talking about the dangers of left-wing activism in our schools. How’s that for gas lighting?
Hillsdale’s agenda – which is also Lee’s agenda – is to bring right wing activism into schools. The college president is closely associated with former President Trump, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his activist wife Ginni Thomas. But this controversy is not going away – until the governor repudiates the remarks – once and all.
