School board president goes on conservative radio to discuss ‘critical race theory’
Peninsula school board president David Olson has been making the rounds on conservative talk radio to defend the district’s recently passed resolution addressing ‘critical race theory,’ or CRT.
Olson talked to conservative commentators Jason Rantz on KTTH and Dori Monson of KIRO on their respective radio shows in the past couple weeks. He spoke to Rantz on July 23 and Monson on July 30.
The Peninsula school board passed a resolution unanimously on July 22, affirming that CRT was not being taught, and that “the District will continue to teach a complete and accurate history that is inclusive and without bias.”
Olson told his radio hosts he could have gotten a stronger resolution against CRT, but he wanted a unanimous vote.
“As board president, it was very important that we send a message to the community that we were unified as a board and I felt a 3-2 vote might not carry as much impact,” Olson said. “Rather than trying to bring a really, really strong resolution against critical race theory in the classroom, having a 5-0 unanimous vote that still said the same thing was more important to me.”
Olson also emphasized that he considered it important not to teach based on a dichotomy of “victims” and “oppressors,” a talking point of those who claim white students are being shamed in classrooms.
“We didn’t want our teachers or students being trained to be taught that they’re oppressors or victims based on the color of their skin,” Olson said.
Meeting with conservative parents
The school board resolution emerged after Olson met on July 13 with a conservative group called Parents & Citizens for School Choice. Heckled after defending the district’s equity efforts, he pledged that the school board would address CRT in a resolution.
In the appearance with Rantz, Olson said there had been “a pretty raucous group of parents coming into the last few board meetings over the past several months that were quite upset.” Olson said these parents were opposed to Senate Bill 5044, legislation mandating training for teachers — but not students — on issues like anti-racism and inclusion.
“The purpose of the resolution was to reassure those parents that currently the district does not have critical race theory as part of our curriculum, nor do we intend to as it’s related to Senate Bill 5044,” Olson said.
The senate bill does not dictate any curriculum or even mention CRT, a graduate level theory that examines systemic racism. But it has become a frequent target for local conservative activists and several candidates for school board, who argue it is being used to “indoctrinate” students.
In his appearance with Monson, Olson said his time in the military traveling the world ensured he didn’t see people’s race.
A shift in stance
Olson’s appearances on the conservative shows appeared to mark a shift in his position on issues of equity, which he had initially defended.
When Monson remarked that “social causes” should not be prioritized in school districts, Olson said he agreed, and echoed conservative concerns about equity training.
“Yeah, I think it’s certainly unfortunate that that’s the case across the country,” Olson said. “A lot of parents were concerned that that training for the teachers across the state could creep down into the classroom. As their voices got louder and louder, our school board decided it was time to take action.”
During Olson’s segment, Monson said that “the Marxists” are behind the discussions surrounding equity in school districts as a way to “poison” youth to make them reliant on the government.
Olson told Monson he feels even the term “equity” has been “hijacked.”
“Unfortunately, some people have hijacked that term of equity to be not equal opportunity but equal outcome,” Olson said. “I just don’t agree with that.”
In talking with Rantz, Olson was asked if he would take action if there were potential future instances of curriculum resembling what the host identified as CRT coming up in the classroom.
“That’s something that we’d have to look at down the road,” Olson said.
Locally, Olson is facing a challenge for his seat by mental health counselor and business owner Juanita Beard. Beard, who would be the sole Black member on the board, had previously told The Gateway that her campaign is the “first step towards diversifying” the body and ensuring important conversations can happen.
Beard said she was in favor of “being able to have an honest conversation that the district is facing and being able to put our money where your mouth is to make sure everyone can have an equal chance at education.”
