The shallow attack on public schools concerning the mythical teaching of Critical Race Theory has been well documented. Even though the theory itself is not taught in North Carolina schools, “CRT” has become so broadly “defined” that it has come to mean so much more than a legal theory taught in the last year of law school.

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt sure has embraced that ever-evolving definition of a concept not taught in public schools and made it an umbrella term for anything she deems as exposing the fact that racism still is very much present our society.

Last June she offered these insights to political cohorts on her definition of CRT.

“It’s the idea that every aspect of American society is racist. That racism permeates every aspect of our society, even though we have laws that we have passed and enacted on the books that are moving us towards a more perfect union. Okay. That is what critical race theory is. Critical race theory proponents also believe that because those laws were in place in 1783, that they can never really be amended, and therefore our nation will always be flawed. And that, my friends, goes against my core belief as a Christian.”

But that CRT is not the only “CRT” she is waging a battle against.

There is also a battle against Critical, Real Thinking.

And that “CRT” is actually being taught in our schools.

Just a week ago, Truitt made this statement:

“We’ve got to redefine what the purpose of K-12 education is. Some would say it’s to produce critical thinkers. But my team and I believe that the purpose of a public K-12 education is to prepare students for post-secondary plans of their choice so that they can be a functioning member of the workforce.”

– STATE SUPERINTENDENT CATHERINE TRUITT, JANUARY 6TH, 2022

In that same presentation, she actually named 2022 “The Year of the Workforce.”

From EdNC.com on January 7th:

Interestingly enough, Alex Granados mentioned in the same EdNC article that “critical thinking” was highly desired by potential employers.

But according to a study on employer views from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, 95% of employers view critical thinking specifically as “very important” or “somewhat important.”

“Critical thinking and analysis, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication through writing and speaking have consistently been ranked highest over time,” the study said in reference to employer surveys.

That very study offers this data graph:

The war on this “CRT” is rather ironic considering that Truitt has been championing the “science of reading” in our schools – especially elementary schools. Last May she stated,

“We are hard-wired to learn how to speak. We are not hard-wired to learn how to read,” Truitt said. “Various places in the brain have to be firing and working at the same time in order for reading to take place. It’s not a visual activity; it’s a language activity.”

Interesting that Truitt wants students to be able to critically read. Yet, critical thinking would be the ability to evaluate any information and ideas presented in that reading.

It’s almost like she wants students to be able to read but not think about what they read and even pass any judgement on the material.