How A Teacher Became An Outcast

When Trying To Understand Critical Race Theory Goes Wrong

I decided to become a teacher when I realized that there was a massive disconnect between being smart, capable, and wise, and the institution designed to get you there. I, myself, have always loved learning. I wanted to help guide students through the ride of self-discovery and truth-seeking that had so excited me when I was their age, yet was crushed by the norms of the education system.

But in the Spring of 2020, sitting through another day teaching my class over Zoom, the gnawing sense that my goals as an educator had failed began to overpower me. My own children, six and three, sat in the other room in online kindergarten—that’s right, online kindergarten—which consisted of watching videos, singing songs, and educational games played by pecking keys on a keyboard for several hours.  How anyone in education thought this would be a good idea is beyond me.  Meanwhile, my wife was scrambling to pivot her career after Governor Newsom mandated she close her business.

I had questions about…