BRATTLEBORO — The Vermonters for Vermont Initiative (V4V) will host a public town-hall-style informational meeting on Friday, July 30, at 6:30 p.m., at Whetstone Church, 28 Birge St.
V4V, a conservative Rutland-based group established in 2018, says its mission is to “educate all Vermonters on public policies coming from Montpelier and local governments.” They will be discussing public schools' teaching of equity and approaches to race in the classroom.
In its promotional outreach, the group says it is addressing critical race theory.
Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic and legal framework that has become a target of conservative media, with more than 1,900 mentions on Fox News in a recent three-month span, according to the left-of-center media watchdog group Media Matters.
In a news release, V4V alleges that critical race theory is “being introduced in many of our public institutions and businesses. Proponents claim that it does not harm children, that CRT teaches equity and the true history of our nation, while opponents argue that CRT is destroying our children and making them think as racist, and pitting races and ethnic groups against each other.”
Media Matters charges that critical race theory, for conservatives, has become “the latest boogeyman they can use to scare people into thinking America's children are being 'indoctrinated' by 'woke' leftist teachers.”
“And while that is not even remotely the case, this idea is exploding on Fox News and in Republican-run state legislatures, leading to legislative bans in many states and skyrocketing mentions of critical race theory on the network,” the Media Matters report continues.
Regardless of terminology and nomenclature, V4V plans a vigorous discussion about how issues of race and racial equity are approached in the classroom.
The event will feature four speakers, who according to V4V “have experience with public schools and with the introduction of race-based education in our schools.”
Three confirmed speakers include Mark Coester, described by V4V as “a concerned citizen”; Aaron Kindsvatter, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Vermont College of Education and Social Services; and John Klar of the Vermont Liberty Network and a 2020 Republican candidate for governor.
The event will be facilitated by Gregory Thayer of the Vermonters for Vermont Initiative.
Organizers will reserve time for the public to ask questions of the speakers.
For more information about the event, contact Thayer at 802-417-7734 or [email protected].