Idaho’s State Board of Education (SBOE) gives the public smokescreens, pretending to offer “value neutral” education but really endorsing the viewpoint of social justice.
While the SBOE and school districts push social justice principles throughout the education system (as we will continue documenting), the SBOE has explicitly denied that Idaho’s universities pursue a social justice agenda.
“I have not personally seen evidence of systematic indoctrination or stifling of free speech in a systematic way,” said Kurt Liebich, president of the SBOE .
Of course, Liebich has not looked.
But no matter: Now the SBOE is going to mandate what has been going on under its complacent watch. Today, the SBOE will consider a policy that sews the core tenets of social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into the missions of Idaho’s universities. The social justice principles have not been there in the past, the Board would have us believe, but they will be there in the future.
The policy demands all public universities “promote and advance the principles of diversity, educational equity, and inclusion.” Each university must maintain policies dedicated to DEI and incorporate this dogma into the university’s mission statement. Universities will be held accountable by the board for enforcing the social justice orthodoxy campus-wide. This is necessary, these public officials claim, to prepare students to enter an “increasingly diverse and global workforce.”
Each institution will be required to ensure the university's mission and identity are centered on educational equity. Further, universities must continue complying with the transformational agenda of accreditation institutions demanding adherence to DEI.
But don’t worry, universities must also maintain a “civil” environment. Of course, civility is an illusion when demanding institution wide acquiescence to a corrupt political cause.
Is this what the Legislature expected when it cut the budget of Idaho’s universities for pursuing the social justice agenda?
