Ontario teachers union hands out awards for activism, not math or science

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (EFTO) has handed out more than a dozen awards but not one recognized classroom excellence in teaching math, literacy, science or pedagogy without emphasizing a progressive activist lens.

This month, the union announced its 2024–25 award recipients, honouring “outstanding contributions.” Every academic category from curriculum development to children’s literature was tied to activism, equity, or social justice.

A closer look shows that the “academic” or “creative” awards were overwhelmingly for work that embedded activism into academics. Literature awards went to projects advancing social justice themes, curriculum awards highlighted equity-focused resources, and even environmental education was framed through climate justice, elevating union-aligned activism as the highest professional achievement.

Roughly two-thirds of all awards celebrated work in anti-racism, anti-oppression, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), or other progressive initiatives, while the rest were awarded for service to the union. No recognition was given for improving literacy, numeracy, or classroom learning outcomes.

Teachers’ unions exist to protect the labour rights of members. As such, their core responsibilities to collective bargaining, safeguarding against unfair discipline, and lobbying for manageable class sizes and working conditions. In Ontario, the ETFO has broadened that role into one that functions as a political and cultural actor inside the education system. Its public campaigns, professional development programs, and awards now consistently emphasize anti-racism, anti-oppression, 2SLGBTQ+ issues, climate change, and decolonization.

Recognizing traditional teaching skills was not on the agenda. True North asked the ETFO why none of this year’s awards recognized classroom excellence in math, literacy, science, or pedagogy unless explicitly tied to progressive political causes. The union did not respond.

The union has received negative public feedback in recent months over its focus on activism. At its Annual General Meeting in August, the ETFO delegates passed a motion to develop teaching resources addressing anti-Palestinian racism. Seventy-one per cent supported the measure, which was intended to affirm Palestinian identity in schools and equip educators to confront bias.

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HHS Cuts California Sex Ed Grant over State’s Refusal to Remove Radical Gender Ideology from Student Program

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday terminated a sex education grant to California due to the state’s refusal to remove radical gender ideology from the taxpayer-funded program, the agency announced

HHS, through its Administration for Children and Families (ACF), specifically terminated the state’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant, which is a program for students meant to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. HHS said California used taxpayer money to “teach curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, ‘altering their body … through hormone therapy,’ ‘adding or removing breast tissue,’ and ‘changing their name.’” HHS said the state also instructed teachers to “remind students that some men are born with female anatomy.”

“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.” 

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‘Whitelash’: Professors say white students get angry, frustrated by ‘anti-racist education’

Two social work scholars argue that their “anti-racist education” efforts in the classroom faced “whitelash” from white students, who became emotionally distraught, pushed back by using “color-blind rhetoric,” or later wrote negative course reviews.

Quinn Hafen from the University of Wyoming and Marie Villescas from Colorado State University recently published an article in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research detailing their experience creating a “pedagogy of discomfort” to challenge white supremacy in the classroom.

The method was criticized by two scholars in interviews with The College Fix, who called the experiment somewhat abusive.

“[T]he more I reflect on that paper, the more I find it cruel to shame students based on immutable identities they hold, regardless of identity,” one observer said via email. “For the professors, it appeared that White and male students were their target.”

The College Fix reached out via email to both Hafen and Villescas regarding some of the concerns raised about their teaching methods. Hafen and Villescas did not reply.

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U. Pittsburgh teaches high school students, teachers to be ‘social justice’ activists

The University of Pittsburgh has partnered with local public high schools through the Justice Scholars Institute to “prepare young people to be advocates for change and social justice.”

The institute’s emphasis on creating “social justice” activists raises questions about whether the program is truly about education or if it’s about advancing a political agenda.

“The term ‘social justice’ is designed to make radical political views sound non-political and virtuous,” Paul Runko, director of strategic initiatives for K-12 programs for Defending Education, told The College Fix in a recent interview.

“You’re not opposed to justice, are you? Because that would make you a supporter of injustice. The phrase itself has no concrete meaning, which is part of why it is so useful,” Runko said. Defending Education is “a national grassroots organization working to restore schools at all levels from activists imposing harmful agendas.”

Through the university’s Justice Scholars Institute, high school students in Pittsburgh public schools can take college-level courses and earn credits.

The educational program is aimed at equipping students “to become change agents within their school, community, and broader world,” according to its website.

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The climate cult is brainwashing your kids — and you’re paying for it

America’s education system is facing a growing list of challenges — from plummeting test scores and the lingering hangover from COVID-era remote classes to teacher shortages and mounting public frustration over gender ideology.

But take it from a former teacher: Another grave problem is haunting our classrooms. Climate extremists have infiltrated American schools, and they’re indoctrinating our children in radical ideology. It’s time the Department of Justice took action to stop it.

Fortunately, they’ve taken the first step. In May, the Justice Department filed lawsuits against four states for allegedly funneling public funds into unconstitutional climate litigation. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the litigation “burdensome and ideologically motivated,” and she’s right. The troubling part is: It’s happening in our public school classrooms too.

If the Trump administration is serious about rooting out taxpayer-funded climate extremism, the next logical step is clear: Launch an investigation into the climate ideologues flooding our education system with fearmongering and pseudoscience.

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HHS Cracks Down on Planned Parenthood’s Smut-Filled Sex Ed Programs with Defunding Warning

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took a major step toward cleaning house at Planned Parenthood and similar organizations, issuing a sweeping policy directive yesterday that will defund programs promoting radical gender ideology, sexually explicit material, and medically inaccurate information, currently funded under the cover of “teen pregnancy prevention.”

The grooming of teens and pre-teens by left-wing nonprofits and programs is under attack by the Department led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health issued Program Policy Notice 2025-01, which reaffirms parental rights, prioritizes medical accuracy, and mandates compliance with several recent Executive Orders, including those ending federal promotion of gender ideology, DEI, and what the administration calls “radical indoctrination.”

The move could wipe out millions in taxpayer funding for groups like Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, AccessMatters, Bridgercare, and dozens of other TPP grantees who have been pushing graphic sexual material to children as young as 11 under the federal Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program.

The government encourages 11 year olds to have sex, but just not to ever get pregnant. Pregnancy is treated by the left as a disease, but underage sex is treated as inevitable.

Among the federally funded lessons flagged for immediate defunding:

  • “Be Proud! Be Responsible!” (AccessMatters): Instructs children on how to “make condoms fun,” suggesting they “hide a condom on your body and ask your partner to find it,” “pretend you are different people,” and “wrap condoms as a present.”
  • “Making Proud Choices!” (Bridgercare): Teaches middle schoolers to practice putting condoms on penis models, with guidance to cut condoms into sheets for oral sex and discussion of flavored condoms for use during foreplay.
  • “Linking Families & Teens” (MOASH/AccessMatters): Includes gender pronoun identification sheets and materials normalizing gender transition and sexual activity among minors.

Planned Parenthood’s own entries are especially egregious. According to internal HHS review documents, Planned Parenthood’s programs often:

  • Promote hormone therapy for minors on affiliated websites.
  • Encourage preteen children to create a “plan to become sexually active.”
  • Include gender ideology that replaces biological terms with “internal” and “external” condoms.

“Effective immediately,” the new HHS policy states, “any content that fails to meet the standards of medical accuracy, age appropriateness, or relevance to teen pregnancy prevention will be deemed unallowable and subject to defunding.”

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CU Boulder class teaches ‘queering literacy’ methods for high school teachers

Aspiring high school English and social studies teachers can learn “queering literacy” methods at the University of Colorado at Boulder this upcoming fall semester.

“Queering Literacy in Secondary Classrooms” teaches students using “theories and practices of literacy teaching and learning that challenge multiple forms of oppression,” according to the course description.

“Using the tools of queer pedagogy,” this course will prepare education majors to “develop, and enact strategies for planning and implementing literacy instruction that moves beyond inclusion of differences in the English/language arts and social studies curriculum,” the course description states.

A professor who regularly teaches the course provided further insights on the content in a phone interview with The College Fix.

Professor Sara Staley described education as facing a “highly polarized political moment right now, especially around topics like DEI.” The current listed professor for the fall 2025 semester is Ashley Cartun.

Staley said she wants to support “teachers and students” who are “trying to create spaces of belonging in every classroom.” She said Colorado “laws and policies” require teachers to “create a safe, respectful, inclusive learning environment for a diverse population of students.”

She said, “a lot of research” shows teachers are not trained enough in “gender and sexual diversity.” Staley also co-runs the Queer Endeavor, a CU-Boulder program that works in “close collaboration with district and school leaders, K-12 teachers, and counselors” for LGBTQ education.

There is also “a lot of research that shows that school can be a pretty unwelcoming place for students who are different” especially for “queer and trans youths,” Staley said.

The class she teaches helps students learn about “diverse identities” and “what it looks like to read a book with a queer character in it” without reinforcing “negative stereotypes.”

Staley said, “queer pedagogy” is about “supporting students to think critically by asking questions of what they read.”

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California ordered to clean trans ideology out of classroom materials

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to California on June 20 ordering it to remove gender ideology references from educational curriculum and programs funded by a federal sexual education grant or face the loss of funding.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) reviewed materials created through California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), a federally-funded sexual education program, and uncovered “egregious content” teaching young students they can change their sex. HHS noted the PREP program has mission of providing minors with medically accurate education rather than ideological agendas.

“After requesting, receiving, and reviewing California’s PREP materials, ACF uncovered egregious content teaching young students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex and that boys can identify as girls,” states an HHS press release. “The educational materials promoting gender ideology have nothing to do with Personal Responsibility Education and are outside the scope of PREP’s authorizing statute.”

The California Department of Public Health didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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UK Gov’t Secretly Used BBC & ITV Soaps for ‘Underhanded’ Vaccine ‘Propaganda’ to Covertly Shape Public Opinion, Coerce Compliance

New Freedom of Information (FOI) documents confirm what many long suspected: The UK government secretly used popular soap operas like EastEnders and Coronation Street to push vaccine propaganda during the pandemic, raising urgent questions about how much influence the state holds over British media, and how far officials are willing to go to manipulate public thought, opinion and behavior under the guise of public health.

The findings echo May 2021 revelations that scientists on the UK government’s behavioral advisory committee admitted they used fear-based “totalitarian” tactics to control public behavior during COVID-19, describing the approach as “unethical,” “dystopian,” and a form of “mind control.”

They also mirror an October 2024 U.S. House investigation that found the CDC and Biden administration used a $900 million COVID campaign to “manipulate Americans” with “deeply flawed” messaging, “overpromising” vaccines “without evidence,” and funding Big Tech companies to “track and monitor Americans.”

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Primary School Children Being “Sexualised” by Lessons on the “300 Flags of Pride”

Leaflets handed out at primary schools by the charity Swindon and Wiltshire Pride claim there are more flags representing sexuality and gender identity than there are for countries.

The material, signposted by the local council on social media, goes into detail about a “small selection” of 29 varieties.

It says: “While some might think [300] is too many, it’s all part of a drive to be more inclusive of the expansive breadth of identity within the community.”

Along with the rainbow LGBT Pride flag are a variety of offshoots, from the “intersex-inclusive Pride flag” to the “polyamory Pride flag” and even a black and white “heterosexual flag” for straight people, which it says can include transgender people.

The materials make up part of a free annual support guide produced by the charity, which also points to websites providing advice on controversial practices such as wearing a “binder to reduce apparent size of breasts”, the use of cross-sex hormones in under-18s, and information on “fetish spectrums”.

Parents of children at the primary schools told the Telegraph their concerns had been ignored by the local Labour council. …

One mother, a former teacher, said the guide being given out in primary schools was “really concerning”.

“Obviously the polyamory one, encouraging children to have multiple sex partners, they shouldn’t be sexualising children,” she said. “In the guide itself, under education, it states it is ‘for schools, teachers, and students’.

“A couple of sentences down, for example, it says ‘raise awareness of the lesser known identities across the fetish spectrum’,” she added, saying that was “inappropriate”.

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