Tag: equity

Here’s An Inside Look At The Radical Dogma Being Taught At The No. 1 Elementary Teaching School

“Even my teacher at the first day of class, she said, ‘everything is political,’ and I didn’t understand what she meant until I started doing the content.”

Adrianna Mobley should have been excited to be accepted to Michigan State University’s elementary education program, ranked the top elementary program in the nation. Excited, that is, until she stepped into her “Social Foundations of Justice and Equity in Education” class this fall. Required for all elementary education majors, the class dives deep into the demonization of free market principles, meritocracy, and American values.

Higher education isn’t a vacuum. Colleges of education and far-left teachers unions are known to push curriculum saturated in Critical Race Theory, breeding K-12 educators ready to pass the narrative to the next generation. It should be no surprise that 58 percent of K-12 teachers in America lean towards or identify with the Democrat Party, disproportionate to the 47 percent of the general public, Pew Data shows. A study of 2022 campaign contributions from the Educational Freedom Institute revealed that 68 percent of K-12 teachers and 93 percent of college professors donated to Democrat candidates or committees.

But how bad is it in the classroom? Take the course mentioned above from Michigan State University’s supposedly top-ranked elementary education program. It’s described on MSU’s website as “understanding self, schools, and society; emphasizing racial justice, equity, and social identity markers.”

According to Mobley, the course materials and conversations have a constant focus on race and a consistent dismissal of capitalist principles unlike anything she had experienced. “As somebody who’s grown up in the school system … I don’t remember anything like this happening before,” Mobley told The Federalist. 

Course materials shared by Mobley show that one of the class units included an interview with activist and educator Angela Davis, formerly an official member of the Communist party and collaborator with the Black Panther Party.

“Racism is integrally linked to capitalism,” Davis said in the video, “and I think it’s a mistake to assume that we can combat racism by leaving capitalism in place.”

“This is a period during which we need to begin that process of popular education which will allow people to understand the interconnections of racism, heteropatriarchy, capitalism,” the video concludes. It would seem that MSU agrees.

In a class assignment, Mobley referenced an article from The Federalist arguing that a system has no moral agency, and thus “systemic racism” is a misnomer skirting the actual problem in legitimate instances of racism – people.

In response, Mobley’s professor (LinkedIn pronouns listed as “she/they”) argued that “Systems are in place and gain traction over time, momentum which builds into norms. Therefore there ARE operators constantly putting forth the systems which we see as normal – it’s us!” 

She went on to reply to Mobley that “if we’re teachers going about our business as usual in a school which perpetuates inequitable outcomes for students of color or low-income students, we are … perpetuating those inequalities,” according to assignment records Mobley shared with The Federalist.

Another required video claims that “America can never be a meritocracy” until it provides “an equal starting point and equal resources.”

After one class discussion, Mobley’s professor asked to speak with her. “She told me that it seems like I’m going to have a really hard time. It was kind of like pushing me, almost, to think that I wasn’t going to do well, or it was going to be too difficult for me because I had opposing views,” Mobley told The Federalist.

Mobley told The Federalist that her professor has not been hostile toward her. However, her professor did warn her that the tone taken in Social Foundations of Justice and Equity in Education was not unique to that class. 

“She said that this is a [recurring] theme throughout all of the teaching program. So Critical Race Theory and DEI are all concepts that elementary education is centered around,” Mobley told The Federalist. 

The Federalist asked MSU whether it supported the professor’s remarks advancing a narrative of systemic racism and asked whether the school supports using materials from a self-professed communist and former Black Panther Party collaborator to teach its students. The Federalist also asked whether the school agrees with the assessment that its education program is apparently so dependent on radical concepts like DEI and critical race theory that students with opposing viewpoints could have a hard time succeeding, but did not receive a response to the questions.

Other required classes in MSU’s elementary education sequence echo leftist ideology, including “Pedagogy and Politics of Justice and Equity in Education,” and three one-credit seminar classes titled “Justice and Equity.“ Mobley is enrolled in another required class, “Engaging Elementary Learners in Science: Culture and Equity. “

Keep reading

California plan redistributes prime farmland in the name of “equity”

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “agricultural equity” advisers have a plan to de facto nationalize farmland and redistribute it along largely racial lines.

This is according to a draft document released this summer by the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force. According to the report, 82% of private farmland in California is owned by white producers; a fact authors blame on “inequities in resource distribution.” Their draft plan lists reparation-style recommendations to disrupt this status quo, restoring “stolen wealth” to the committee’s preferred groups.

California lost 1.6 million acres of farming and grazing land between 1984 and 2018—more than 47,000 acres per year or one square mile every five days. To address this crisis, the task force suggests removing prime farmland from the market altogether.

“In order to protect California’s Prime Farmland and Farmland of Statewide Importance, the Legislature should move to safeguard them in the public domain,” the report states.

By stripping owners of their right to freely sell or transfer farmland, the California government would be able to “halt the problem at the root,” the report claims. A state-funded entity could then buy up available farmland and redistribute it to “priority producers or land stewards”—defined as socially disadvantaged or historically excluded farmers.

The report predicts much of this available farmland will come courtesy of a 2014 California law that regulates water use. The controversial Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) shifted control from landowners to local agencies, giving government the power to dictate water use on private property and to impose fees for groundwater pumping. SGMA forces farmers to stop farming near “overdrafted basins,” in some cases calling for pumping reductions of 20-50% or more.

Keep reading

Twelfth Grade Math And Reading Scores Are Worse Than Ever, Thanks To ‘Equity’  

The U.S. Department of Education recently released test results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, showing that American high school seniors’ math and reading scores have dropped to a new historical low.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “Twelfth-graders’ average math score was the worst since the current test began in 2005, and reading was below any point since that assessment started in 1992.” Among these high school seniors, only 35 percent of high school seniors are proficient in reading, and a mere 22 percent in math. These troubling statistics contribute to an ongoing downward trend in educational outcomes that we have witnessed in recent years.

Extensive research confirms that extended school closures and remote learning during the Covid pandemic — largely influenced by the demands of teachers’ unions — have played a major role in the significant learning loss students are grappling with today. However, it’s crucial to recognize, as noted by the Journal, that declines in reading and math scores were already evident before the pandemic, and school closures only intensified an already alarming trend. The root cause of the troubling test scores among American youth lies in progressive education policies that undermine merit, favor ideological indoctrination over substantive learning, and promote the reduction of discipline in schools. These policies led to a crisis in education that we now must address.

Keep reading

There Is Nothing Democrats Will Not Ruin

Is there a place in the country better off because Democrats have control over the local or state government? I mean, I guess if your hobby is getting pregnant so you can have an abortion, living in Chicago or Boston is a plus, but not if you’re a fan of things like not being robbed or shot. Otherwise, only slumlords and progressive “organizers” thrive in a world controlled by the left. And if you want to get your kid an education, forget about it. There is nothing Democrats can’t ruin, and there is nothing even potentially good they will not ruin.

You’ve all heard about “equity,” Democrats present the word like it’s the cure for something, anything. They pretend it is about opportunity when it is about outcomes. Democrats want to dictate outcomes – pick winners and losers, rewarding their donors while ignoring their voters, whom they take for granted. OJ Simpson treated women better than Democrats treat their voters. 

But hey, they keep voting for Democrats, so why be effective when you don’t have to be? 

Back to equity. 

San Francisco, the progressive Petri dish from which so many bad ideas spring, is implementing “equitable grading” in their schools. Why? Because minority students are not doing as well as Asian students, who are also minorities. (As an aside, it always cracks me up when Democrats talk about how racist the country is; they whine about how well Asians and Indians are doing. Are we racist or not? Because if we were, why are two minorities out-earning evil whitey?)

What is “equitable grading”? It is a scheme to cover up just how badly Democrats have screwed up the education system in their cities by lowering standards for grades. As I always say, if you control the unit of measure, you control everything. If you can change what constitutes a passing grade, you will have a higher passing rate without improving the education of a single student. 

The Voice of San Francisco reports, “Without seeking approval of the San Francisco Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Maria Su plans to unveil a new Grading for Equity plan.” There is no input from anyone, just a top-down imposition. It’s how the party of “This is what democracy looks like” operates.

Keep reading

Grading for Equity coming to San Francisco high schools this fall

Without seeking approval of the San Francisco Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Maria Su plans to unveil a new Grading for Equity plan on Tuesday that will go into effect this fall at 14 high schools and cover over 10,000 students. The school district is already negotiating with an outside consultant to train teachers in August in a system that awards a passing C grade to as low as a score of 41 on a 100-point exam. 

Were it not for an intrepid school board member, the drastic change in grading with implications for college admissions and career readiness would have gone unnoticed and unexplained. It is buried in a three-word phrase on the last page of a PowerPoint presentation embedded in the school board meeting’s 25-page agenda. The plan comes during the last week of the spring semester while parents are assessing the impact of over $100 million in budget reductions and deciding whether to remain in the public schools this fall. While the school district acknowledges that parent aversion to this grading approach is typically high and understands the need for “vigilant communication,” outreach to parents has been minimal and may be nonexistent. The school district’s Office of Equity homepage does not mention it and a page containing the SFUSD definition of equity has not been updated in almost three years.  

Grading for Equity eliminates homework or weekly tests from being counted in a student’s final semester grade. All that matters is how the student scores on a final examination, which can be taken multiple times. Students can be late turning in an assignment or showing up to class or not showing up at all without it affecting their academic grade. Currently, a student needs a 90 for an A and at least 61 for a D. Under the San Leandro Unified School District’s grading for equity system touted by the San Francisco Unified School District and its consultant, a student with a score as low as 80 can attain an A and as low as 21 can pass with a D.  

Joe Feldman, the consultant the school district plans to contract with to implement Grading for Equity, wrote in 2019 that in Placer County, another jurisdiction with the grading system, “students who did not qualify for free or reduced-price lunch had a sharper decrease in A’s, reflecting how traditional grading practices disproportionately benefit students with resources because of the inequitable inclusion of extra credit and other resource-dependent grading criteria.”   

Grading for Equity may reduce A and D/F grades and, according to Feldman, enable a school district to cut costs for remedial classes but what about student academic outcomes? The most recent data from both middle schools in San Leandro where grading reform started in 2016 document significant continued disparities among student populations when it comes to performance on statewide assessment tests. In both English and mathematics, the gaps ranged from twice to triple to even four times as many students meeting or exceeding the statewide standard in some subgroups compared to others. The children needing the most help and improvement are not getting it.

Keep reading

Democrats Threaten “Righteous Litigation” Over Trump’s Shutdown Of DEI Offices

If a president has the power to unilaterally approve and fund DEI programs within the federal government, then any future president also has the power to unilaterally shut those DEI programs down.  This is how executive orders work, but Democrats think when it comes to Donald Trump legal restrictions apply. 

Woke activist politicians are up in arms this week after Trump signed orders effectively shutting down all DEI related offices within the government and placing employees on paid leave pending inevitable pink slips.  The usual suspects including House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar held a press conference to voice their outrage over the fast-paced elimination of DEI. 

Jeffries arguments in particular were loaded with fallacies in an attempt to rewrite what Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives actually are.  According to the House Minority Leader, America has always embraced DEI.

First we have to clarify that DEI is not and never will be American.  It is a communistic policy which places the group over the individual.  Meaning, the merit of the individual is dismissed as irrelevant in favor of diversity hiring for the sake of appearances.  Inevitably, this leads to the discrimination of certain people (namely straight white men and conservatives), because DEI operates on a victimhood totem pole which places certain groups above others depending on their ethnic or sexual status.  

There aren’t enough high level black, indigenous or trans aerospace engineers in the US to fill positions at agencies like NASA.  So, DEI officials hire unqualified or lesser qualified workers by default.

Furthermore, “equity” and “equality” are not the same thing, and Hakeem Jeffries knows this. 

Equality is about equal treatment and equal opportunity.  Under equality, merit still applies. 

Equity is about forcing equality of outcome and giving special treatment to people based on their perceived or fabricated social disadvantages.  Under equity there can be no such thing as merit because the most useless people will always rise to the top based on who can pretend to be the most “oppressed”.     

Keep reading

The Real, Actual Problem With DEI Initiatives- As Seen In L.A.

Whenever anyone attacks D.E.I., or diversity, equity, and inclusion – liberals will argue that it is simply a small town, White conservative fear that people of color and different sexual orientations are being forced into their schools and workspace. For a small minority, unfortunately, that may be the case. But most of the time, that could not be further from the truth. That is what limousine liberals would like you to believe that DEI is – simply providing more opportunities to those historically marginalized. These are the policies that coastal elites have been advocating for, because this is what they believe that it means. But it doesn’t do that at all. 

The whole purpose of DEI is not to empower anybody – but to dismantle and restructure-not for people at the very top, the White, progressive, latte sipping liberals in their fancy limousines-but for those of us that are deemed below them. It is vengeance of the highest order against us.  

The “D” stands for diversity, but they do not necessarily mean skin color. Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ben Carson are people of color. Are they welcome to the corporate table under these policies?  Absolutely not. 

Diversity to this corporatized agenda means simply various shades of liberalism and bold strokes of sexuality. It has nothing to do with background, diversity of thought, or ability – as long as there is a rainbow flag up in the office. It does not matter that you know how to put out fires, turn on a fire hose, or help anybody with basic medical attention. 

To them, it means how extreme you are in enforcing your vaccine mandate, and how many different partners you can host in the bedroom. For years people wanted you out of their bedroom and their business – under these rules, you are defined by it and how much you advertise your sexual partner of choice. If you get enough ice cream samples, they may hand you the Fire Chief Position.  

Keep reading

Federal DEI Officials Try To Disguise To Keep Their Jobs, But There’s Nowhere To Hide

The hunt begins.  On day one of his second term Donald Trump put the federal government’s weight behind the national push to end DEI programs by signing an executive order that would effectively dismantle them from all aspects of the federal government.

The executive action calls for the termination of DEI programs, mandates, policies, preferences and activities in the federal government along with the review and revision of existing federal employment practices, union contracts and training policies or programs. 

Agency, department and commission heads have 60 days to terminate to the maximum extent allowed by law all DEI, DEIA and “environmental justice” offices and positions, action plans, equity-related grants or contracts as well as end all DEI or DEIA performance requirements 

Perhaps not believing that this action would come so quickly or so aggressively, diversity offices seem to have been caught completely off guard and employees are now scrambling to figure out how they can still keep their government paycheck.  Federal DEI employees are reportedly “unclear” as to their status and do not know if they are being fired, or if they are being moved to a new position.

In all likelihood, they will be fired.

Some officials have decided to preempt their impending pink slip, choosing to rehire themselves under a new label in an attempt to hide the fact that they are DEI.  Others are trying to rename their entire department as something more innocuous, hoping to float under Trump’s radar.  However, these efforts are all in vain. 

Keep reading

NASA ends DEI programs that ‘wasted taxpayers dollars and resulted in shameful discrimination’

NASA has ended its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEI) programs after all federal agencies were directed to ‘terminate’ the initiatives.

Staff received an email Wednesday from acting administrator Janet Petro, which said the space agency is ‘taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders.’

The order is titled ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.’ 

NASA’s email admitted that ‘these programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.’

The space agency has spent at least $22.4 million annually on such programs.

DailyMail.com had uncovered millions of taxpayer dollars were dished out for DEI data analytics and to help the agency ’embark on a venture to incorporate and deeply engrain diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility in the culture and business.’

Petro, who is the first woman to lead NASA as its acting administrator, also urged staff to report colleagues who have attempted to disguise DEI programs with coded language.

‘There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information,’ the email reads. ‘However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences.’

Keep reading

Trump to end federal DEI programs: ‘Very fitting on MLK Day’

President Trump will issue an order ending federal “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs on his first day in office Monday — with an aide calling it “very fitting on MLK Day.”

“It is ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing,” an incoming White House official told reporters on a press call.

“It’s actually very fitting on MLK Day,” the official said.

“This order is meant to return to the promise and the hope that is captured by the civil rights champion — that one day all Americans can be treated on the basis of their character and not by the color of their skin.”

The executive order — one of dozens Trump is expected to sign immediately — will instruct senior officials in the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to determine what programs need to be gutted.

“This order is meant to create equal treatment and end DEI inside the federal government,” the Trump aide said.

“It asks for OMB and OPM to coordinate with the various agencies to terminate all discriminatory programs in the agencies — so that is going to include illegal DEI mandates, policies, programs, preferences and activities.”

The order requests “a plan to dismantle the DEI bureaucracy,” the official said.

“This includes environmental justice programs, equity-related grants, equity action plans, equity initiatives, these types of things.”

Keep reading