When I was a student at Schreiber High School in Port Washington, I never knew the political views of any of my history or government teachers, and this was by design.

In fact, despite a number of my peers begging to know whether our American history teacher was voting for Bush or Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, he adamantly refused to disclose this information.

When we wrote essays on politically controversial topics, it was understood that we would be graded solely on the quality of our writing and rhetoric.  We would not be penalized if the teacher held different political views.

In one case, I wrote an essay arguing that the way that car insurance companies set rates using factors such as gender and marital status is unethical.  The teacher grading it had worked for years in the insurance industry before going into education, so it is likely that she disagreed strongly with my position.  Nonetheless, she handed it back with a grade of A+.  My political views weren’t what was being evaluated.  I was in class with both Democrats and Republicans, but I never heard anyone say that they worried about being punished for their beliefs.

This standard of professional behavior seems to be rapidly vanishing for the generation going through the system today.  I have spoken with young people for whom the idea that educators should teach them how to think rather than what to think is completely alien.  The psychologist Jonathan Haidt haswritten and spoken at length about this problem, including in the book “The Coddling of the American Mind” that he co-authored with Greg Lukianoff.  Dr. Haidt describes teachers as having a fiduciary duty to use their authority for the benefit of the students they are charged with educating.  When a teacher uses their position to advance their own personal political agenda, that is a breach of their fiduciary duty.

Recent comments from Manhasset administrators quoted in Blank Slate papers do not inspire confidence.  By taking issue with citizens viewing DEI as political, Donald Gately seems to be indicating that he views the values of many Americans as being beyond the pale.  Let’s be clear: In most cases, DEI does not mean simply that people of all races and genders should be treated equally under the law and with respect by their fellow citizens.  Rather, it is an ideological framework holding that it is acceptable to discriminate against individuals viewed as “privileged” in the name of promoting diversity, that the most important things about a person are their group identity labels, and that systemic biases are the only possible explanation that may be considered for differences in outcomes between groups.

Do you believe in Martin Luther King’s dream of a world in which no one is ever judged by the color of their skin?  Do you believe that students applying for college admissions or scholarships should all be judged by the same standard, without regard to their race or gender?  Do you believe that objectivity and meritocracy are ideals toward which our society should strive?  Do you believe that, on average, men and women tend to have different interests and that certain occupational choices would appeal to a larger percentage of one gender or the other, even in the absence of any bias or discrimination?  If you answered “yes” to even one of these questions, then you hold views that are deemed problematic by DEI proponents.

Our students deserve better than to have views held by millions of Americans treated as illegitimate by those in positions of authority.  If this is not what Mr. Gately means by DEI, then the district should clarify exactly what is meant and assure parents that their students will not be chastised or penalized for different views from their teachers.  If the district is in fact promoting this divisive ideology, then parents and other community members have every right to demand change.  Until that happens, I applaud those who have brought these concerns to the attention of the public and encourage them to continue to do so.  If change does not come, then I hope that the people of Manhasset and other districts suffering from this type of problem will hold their school boards accountable at the ballot box.

David Golub

Mineola