By Jeff Bryant
Campaign for America’s Future
Left-leaning people everywhere recently got a hoot when the Texas Republican Party declared its opposition to the teaching of “Higher Order Thinking Skills,” including “critical thinking skills,” in public schools. Although a party spokesperson later back-peddled from that statement — saying that including “critical thinking skills” in their declaration was a “mistake” — there’s little doubt that what these Republicans object to most is any sort of education that would challenge “fixed beliefs” and “authority.”
Frankly, I don’t see what Republicans are so worried about. Because when it comes to the subject of education, there’s very little evidence that critical thinking is widespread these days, especially among the people who Republicans are supposed to worry about most — Democrats.