Public commenter urges removal of slavery instruction from required classes

During the public participation portion of the meeting, Jason Johnson addressed the board and asked that instruction on slavery be removed from school classrooms and relocated to museums or optional field trips. Johnson said he believes school should focus on academics and current events and argued that teaching slavery in required classroom time ‘‘stroks another race’s ego’’ and is emotionally burdensome for some students and families. He said older history topics could be covered through optional museum trips rather than in required courses.

Under the board’s public participation rules, board members did not respond directly; the board chair noted that public comments are referred to administration and that commenters should avoid naming individual students or staff to comply with the Illinois School Student Records Act.