Education

Oregon High School Assigns ‘White Privilege’ Survey

Privilege (Credit: Shutterstock)

Annabel Scott Contributor
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Last week, a teacher at Oregon’s Aloha High School sent students in her Literature Composition home with a “White Privilege Survey.”

The survey asks students to mark 13 statements as “often true,” “sometimes true,” or “seldom true” based on their “race or color.”

The 13 statements on the survey ranged from the ability to rent a home to food selection at the grocery store.

Sarah Rios-Lopez, an Aloha High parent, told KATU that she thinks the school should be applauded for assigning the survey and initiating a conservation about race. “It’s a huge topic, and I think it needs to start somewhere. If it doesn’t start now, it’s not going to start.”

Maureen Wheeler, a Beaverton School District spokeswoman, told NWCN that the goal of the survey was for students to “gain empathy, understanding and to build bridges.”

Jason Schmidt, whose son is also in the class, thinks the survey is a form of political indoctrination by the public school.

“With the amount of money we pay for schools, they should be educating not indoctrinating our students about the latest political fad or political agenda a teacher wants to get across,” Schmidt tells KATU. “I think he should be learning actual education and not be a part of some social experiment or some teacher’s political agenda. The way this survey is read, it almost wants to shame you for being white.”