Friday, May 6, 2022
The Rt. Rev. Rob Hirschfeld
What is Sacred?
(This is an Op-Ed piece written by our bishop)
I AM WRITING in response to the recent piece, “Education’s Sacred Trust” by Commissioner Frank Edelblut of the New Hampshire Department of Education. As the bishop of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire, I am compelled to respond when the word “sacred” is used, especially when used to divide by driving a wedge of fear and distraction into our communities.
Focusing on the acts of a few teachers to paint the education system in New Hampshire with such a broad brush is overreaching. In fact, Commissioner Edelblut says so himself in his piece, “To be fair, most educators do not engage in such practices,” and, “Rather, these teachers provide instruction that is developmentally appropriate to the child.” Striking fear into parents’ hearts that “activist educators might be knowingly dismantling the foundations of a value system they are attempting to build” in order to forward a political agenda towards school vouchers or, even worse, the dismantling of the public school system, is in my opinion as a parent and a New Hampshire resident the wrong focus.
Commissioner Edelblut seeks to eradicate from schools entirely topics that he doesn’t deem appropriate. I am concerned about this for two reasons. First, it seeks to marginalize rather than to bring together, which distorts the idea of the “sacred.” In the Episcopal Church, our foundational beliefs are represented in our baptismal vows. As Christians we commit to seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves, striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. Isn’t disregarding and ignoring the dignity of BIPOC persons and those who identify as LGBTQIA+ a violation of a sacred trust?
Second, by asking schools to not address difficult topics and to avoid discussing past injustices, Commissioner Edelblut is seeking to remove from schools a way in which we can best prepare our New Hampshire schoolchildren for the world, by teaching them civil discourse. A school should be a place for students to learn how to hold their own in a civil conversation, know where they stand, be open to hearing different viewpoints, and learn to uphold the dignity of those who might be otherwise minded. Shouldn’t we promote having these conversations in a fearless way, and teach our students to have these conversations with civility and love rather than continuing to drive a wedge and foment the culture wars? These conversations do not imperil but enhance the academic performance of our schoolchildren. By not engaging in these conversations, we are shutting down our minds and our hearts.
If the purpose of education is to prepare our New Hampshire schoolchildren for the world, we need to be teaching them to have the capacity for civil discourse, rather than teaching them to avoid topics — or people — that they find difficult, controversial, or “other”. I need only look to our Episcopal independent schools who are at the vanguard of teaching a variety of viewpoints, world views, and “controversial topics.” These robust conversations do not come at the cost of academic performance but in fact help prepare young persons to be caring, productive, dare I say loving members of a society in deep need of a richer capacity to communicate across differences and myriad viewpoints, while discovering and clarifying their own.
Yes, these Episcopal independent schools are expensive. Education is expensive. I lament that those schools, and the excellent pedagogy they embrace, are not as accessible to all youth in New Hampshire. What about the sacred trust of equity in funding? As was reported recently, New Hampshire ranks last among all states when it comes to state funding for public education, making it difficult for poorer districts to “raise the necessary funds to provide an adequate education for New Hampshire’s children,” according to Brian Hawkins of NEA-NH.
To raise our children into the full stature of their potential is a sacred trust that our state has shamefully betrayed. That’s a trust that our state government, including the governor and his education commissioner, should turn their attention to with vigor.
Parents want what is best for their children, and they want their children to grow up to be well equipped for the world. As New Hampshire residents, we should want this for all of the schoolchildren in the state. Let’s encourage those difficult conversations, and let’s ensure our public schools are well funded by the state to support our teachers to do just that.