ROCHESTER, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michigan’s GOP gubernatorial candidates debated Wednesday about topics ranging from guns, Michigan’s no fault legislation, critical race theory, the increase in the cost of education and more.
For the candidates, Tudor Dixon, Ryan Kelley, Kevin Rinke, Garrett Soldano and Ralph Rebandt, CRT remains a hot button issue as they campaign throughout the state, even though, according to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), it is not incorporated in K-12 curriculums.
According to State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, CRT is not taught in Michigan K-12 classrooms, but he believes it’s important for children to learn about all aspects of the country’s history.
"It is not a curriculum, and it is not a pre-K-12 curriculum,” Dr. Rice said. “It is an academic lens or set of lenses developed primarily by those in higher education to consider the elements and impacts of racism and particularly institutional racism on our country and citizenry,” Dr. Rice said. "Race and racism may be inconvenient for some, uncomfortable for others, and searing for still others, but, because they are inextricably a part of our history, they must be taught.”
Ryan Kelly, however, claims it’s, “an absolute false statement” that CRT isn’t taught in Michigan’s schools. If elected, Kelly promised, on day one, to terminate all equity, diversity and inclusion positions in Michigan’s schools because, he believes, it “violates Article 1, Section 26 of the Michigan Constitution.”
Garrett Soldano shared similar feelings about CRT. He said, “I don’t trust them” when referring to the MDE.
“I don’t care what they say. We all know CRT is a fundamental racist belief system fueled in the faulty ideas of Marxism.”
Instead, Soldano wants children to be “taught the right history.”
When asked about CRT, Kevin Rinke said, “it’s wrong.” He claimed “it has filtered it’s way down to K-12 and lower.” For the local businessman, literacy, he said, will be his focus, if elected.
During Wednesday’s debate, Tudor Dixon referenced a statement made by Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti in which he said, CRT was part of the districts’ curriculum. However, the following week, Vitti said it’s not taught in the district.
In June of 2020, DPSCD created an anti-racism pledge that promises to acknowledge inequities based on the protected classes of race, gender and class.
“Someone from the outside could look at this and say ‘well, this should be banned because it’s critical race theory.’ It is and it’s not,” Dr. Vitti said. “It’s really what you actually do in the classroom, the questions you ask and how you structure the content. What this is, is a commitment to anti-racist instruction in teaching and curriculum. A lot of people think that is critical race theory in and of itself. It’s not.”
Using Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a benchmark, Ralph Rebandt believes the Civil Right’s leader would not support CRT.
“I’m convinced that these types of things, CRT and SEL are nothing more than the indoctrination of our children. What they do is teach our kids to hate each other. They teach our kids ways that they can force this stuff that’s been forced down their throats.”
Whether it’s CRT, anti-racism, LGBTQ issues or guns, a lot is at stake for Michigan voters this year.
Michigan’s Primary Election will be held on August 2.
Get out and vote!
