Current Event Assignments

Due Dates: 01/18, 01/27, 02/10, 02/17, 03/08, 03/17, 03/31, 04/14, 04/26, 05/05

Title of article: Caught in a culture war, Georgetown Day School holds fast to its mission.
Source: The New York Times
Reputable: Yes/No
Date of article: 3/24/2022

1. Introduction
This article discusses the supreme court hearing and Ketanji Brown Jackson being questioned about Georgetown Day
School. Republicans argued over whether it “indoctrinates students.” The article discusses the debate over Critical Race
Theory and whether or not that is a good practice. While some believe it is forcing progressive beliefs onto children and
others say that it is just teaching history. It has quotes from both students of Georgetown parents and Ketanji Brown
herself. It discussed what happened at the hearing the Republican points, like showing a children’s book on the reading
list at the school that “discusses race and how to talk about it.” This was discussed because Ketanji Brown was on the
board at this school as well as supporting them in various ways for many years.

2. Media Bias Rating

a. The New York Times is a very reputable new source. It has a moderate left leaning bias as an overall
newspaper. The articles themselves somewhat depend on who is writing them. I think this article is
pretty biased just because I believe the author has very strong beliefs surrounding Critical Race Theory,
but it is all factual.
b. Citation #1
i. “...Critical Race Theory, an academic term that conservatives have co-opted to challenge efforts
to teach children about racism and equality.
ii. This quote is somewhat biased in the way it describes critical race theory. Whether or not that
description is actually true, it does lean into the more liberal way of looking at it and does not
acknowledge and it even goes as far as to disagree with the Republicans way of viewing it.
c. Citation #2
i. “That the curriculum is hardly foisted on families who seek out the school appeared to matter
little to Republicans who injected it into Judge Jackson’s hearing.”
ii. This quote shows the author's bias in the words she uses and what she is saying in the first
place. Things like “interjected into the hearing” show that she believes it was not right for them
to discuss this at the hearing, as well as actually arguing against one of the Republicans point of
view in her own words. That is something you aren’t really supposed to do in a news article.
 3. Analysis
This is a really interesting article that looks at a very prominent debate at the moment. Critical race theory is a very hot
term for Republicans right now and the fact that it even ended up being discussed in the supreme court confirmation
hearing shows how prevalent it is. I think the arguments for the school are very strong, and it is extremely hypocritical of
Republicans to be arguing that teaching something in a private school is wrong. Well I don’t personally agree that
teaching critical race theory which is just history and religion are similar, I do believe Republicans who argue that private
schools should be able to teach about religion cannot argue against teaching critical race theory in a private school as
well.

4. Discussion Questions
1) Do you think teaching Critical Race Theory in a private school is similar to teaching religion?
2) Do you think that the fact that Ketaji Brown was on the board at this school makes her biased in any way?
3) What are your thoughts on Critical Race Theory as a whole and is it something that should be taught in
elementary school?