No, Teachers Are Not Like Surgeons; Yes, Parents Can 'Interfere With Curricula'

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Likely for partisan reasons, NBC News commissioned a hubristic teacher to publish a would-be rebuttal this week to parents who oppose indoctrination in the classroom.

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“Parents have always tried to interfere with curricula, as I observed when teaching middle school in the mid-2000s,” Christina Wyman wrote. “Even then there was no shortage of parental input about the content of my instruction. Part of the problem is that parents think they have the right to control teaching and learning because their children are the ones being educated.”

If that’s not patronizing enough, here’s some true superciliousness from the author:

“It’s sort of like entering a surgical unit thinking you can interfere with an operation simply because the patient is your child.”

Wow. While in my 20s, I taught school in the toughest part of arguably the toughest district in America. I’ve since written articles on educational reform for nearly two decades and published a book.

Parents — rich and poor, black and white, urban and rural — are entitled to input because they are responsible for their children’s formation. By law, parents also are the ultimate authority when it comes to the upbringing of their children, and can be jailed for failing in this aspect.

“Teaching, too, is a science,” Wyman, who is proudly not a parent, opined. “Unless they’re licensed and certified, parents aren’t qualified to make decisions about curricula. Parents who attempt to influence curricula with their personal opinions, ideologies and biases hinder that goal.”

Licensed and certified? I was forced to attend two years of graduate school to become a “licensed/certified” teacher and recall learning nothing of relevance. It’s box checking and a way for colleges to take more money.

And teaching is not brain surgery — literally or figuratively.

Even if teaching were akin to brain surgery, parents still switch doctors, seek second opinions, and refuse consent for treatments. A surgeon going around a parent’s wishes to perform surgery would be sued and probably lose his license. Teachers, like the arrogant Wyman, have lifetime tenure and frequently come from the bottom of their graduating classes. The two professions are wholly different.

Related: Merrick Garland Gets Bullied by Teachers’ Unions

“Parents, community members and politicians who aren’t qualified to teach should keep their noses out of school curricula,” the left-wing activist continued.

This is smug and nonsensical, but Wyman is an appalling radical with a sordid history of editorials, including, “I’m Catholic and I’ll never regret my abortion,” “Wearing a mask has given me a break from my crippling insecurity,” and “Confessing to your white privilege is not enough.”

That Wyman genuinely believes she and her colleagues have the same skill as surgeons, and parents should have no say in their children’s formation, says it all. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or a surgeon) to understand this.

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