Tag: public schools

500 School Districts Publicly Declare Only Woke Teachers Need Apply

Trade publication Education Week recently reported that about 500 school districts around the country are rating teacher applicants according to their “cultural competency,” another code for “wokeness.” Many of these districts are contracting with a teacher-hiring company called Nimble, which uses artificial intelligence to examine applications and interview answers to determine which candidates harbor the correct political and cultural attitudes.

A central concern of Nimble and its leftist clients is mindsets about race. The goal is to hire only teachers who are “anti-racist” activists, who will reject equal treatment of all students in favor of discrimination against some (whites) for the supposed benefit of others (racial minorities). Note that under this rubric, Asian students, who as a group work hard and consequently excel, don’t qualify as an oppressed racial minority.

“Now that we’ve become a little more aware of the concept of anti-racism and maybe a little more woke as a culture, I do think that districts have started to emphasize these questions a little bit more,” Nimble CEO Lauren Dachille told EdWeek. “They might be more common, they might be more explicit.”

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DOJ Refuses To Withdraw Memo Activating FBI Counterterrorism Division Against School Parents

In a quiet response to the Senate Judiciary Committee three days before Christmas, the Biden DOJ says it won’t withdraw a controversial memo used to activate the FBI Counterterrorism Division to investigate parents voicing their opposition to a variety of topics – primarily mask and vaccine mandates, and teaching critical race theory.

This week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed the pre-Christmas response – stating:

“[I]n December we asked why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division was getting involved in parents expressing their concerns at school board meetings. Now, just to be crystal clear, there’s no excuse for real threats or acts of violence at school board meetings, but if there are such threats, these should be handled at the local level and the Attorney General should withdraw his memo that started this whole thing.

“Well, a couple days before Christmas, the Justice Department responded to us with just a one-page letter.

“In that letter, DOJ had nothing to say about why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division was involved in local school-board matters. DOJ just said, ‘We’re not going to withdraw the memo.’ So, the Feds may be keeping track of school board meetings—even if it creates a horrible chilling effect. And, of course the FBI looking over your shoulder would have a chilling effect. Next week the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on domestic terrorism. I hope we’re going to be focusing on the serious threats facing our country—and I hope no one thinks the focus is on our nation’s parents.”

The Garland memo

On October 4, AG Merrick Garland issued a memorandum announcing a concentrated effort to target any threats of violence, intimidation, and harassment by parents toward school personnel.

The announcement came came days after the national association of school boards asked the Biden administration to take “extraordinary measures” to prevent alleged threats against school staff that the association said was coming from parents who oppose mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory.

In late October, however, it was revealed that Garland based the memo on unsupported claims made by the National School Boards Association, which apologized for inflammatory language. Garland maintains that the letter had no bearing on the DOJ’s stance.

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Students made to ‘fake play’ instruments for Covid ‘safety’

Grade school students in Wilmington, Mass. will “NOT permitted to play/blow into their instruments” due to the omicron variant. Instead, students will “…move their fingers through exercises and songs” while “…being fully masked.”

According to an email from the district posted by parent group Bring Kids Back MA, “Students who play woodwind or brass instruments (Flute/Clarinet/Alto Saxophone/Trumpet/Trombone will NOT be permitted to play/blow their instruments in lessons in school.”

Under the district’s new approach, “…students will assemble their instruments (without the mouthpiece) and move their fingers through exercises and songs, as well as participate in music and rhythm reading lessons while being fully masked for the entire lesson.” Despite the complete lack of constructive work for the students, the district still expects the children to “…attend band lessons during this time.” Nothing was mentioned with regard to concerts or performances.

The email added that “Percussion (drums) students will continue to have their lessons as usual since those instruments do not involve blowing aerosols into the classroom.”

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Racist school board unanimously approves plan to pay non-white teachers more

If you feel like you live in an alternative universe where reductionism replaces logic and superficiality trumps character, here’s more evidence that you may be right. We might just be living in a racist version of The Twilight Zone.

The Mankato School Board in Minnesota voted unanimously to pay non-white teachers “additional stipends” based only on the color of their skin, according to BizPac Review. If you happen to be born black or Native American and teach for the school district, you ostensibly deserve to be paid more than your peers.

You don’t have to earn the raise for going the extra mile to help students or for actually doing anything at all. The pay raise is based upon the accident of skin color and nothing else. Forget the fact that nobody gets to determine the color of skin they’re born with.

The chair of the board, Jodi Sapp, is no stranger to controversy. She raised eyebrows when she required parents to give their name and address before commenting on school matters, The Daily Wire reported.

In this latest move, Sapp led the charge to amend district policy so that only non-white teachers are eligible for additional stipends to become mentors to other non-white colleagues.

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‘1619 Project’ Creator: ‘I Don’t Really Understand This Idea That Parents Should Decide’ What’s ‘Taught’ In Schools

Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the far-left “1619 Project” – which has been widely criticized by historians – said during a segment on Sunday that she did not understand why parents should get a say in what their children learn in school.

Jones made the remarks during a panel on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” when pressed on how parent’s involvement in education shaped the governor’s race in Virginia.

“Well, I would say the governor’s race in Virginia was decided based on the success of a right-wing propaganda campaign that told white parents that they needed to fight against their children being indoctrinated as race – as being called racists. But that was a propaganda campaign,” she claimed without providing any evidence.

“And I don’t really understand this idea that parents should decide what’s being taught,” she later added. “I’m not a professional educator. I don’t have a degree in social studies or science. We send our children to school because we want them to be taught by people who have an expertise in the subject area. And that is not my job. When the, when the governor or the candidate said that he didn’t think parents should be deciding what’s being taught in school, he was panned for that. But that’s just the fact. This is why we send our children to school and don’t homeschool, because these are the professional educators who have the expertise to teach social studies, to teach history, to teach science, to teach literature. And I think we should leave that to the educators.”

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Florida School Board Moves to Censor Speakers and Prohibit Broadcast of Public Comments

In response to months of public backlash from parents and residents opposed to forced student masking, School Board members in Palm Beach County, Florida, are proposing new rules to censor and limit the public’s ability to voice their opinions and prohibit broadcasting of all public comments.

According to the School Board of Palm Beach County website, “speakers will not be denied the opportunity to speak on the basis of their viewpoint.” Pursuant to Florida statute § 286.0114, “the public shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on a proposition before a board or commission.” Florida statute § 286.011 states that all meetings of public boards or commissions must be open to the public and the minutes of the meetings must be taken, promptly recorded, and open for public inspection.

The new policy, being drafted by school board attorneys, would limit the number of people who would be allowed to speak at public meetings and the amount of time they are allowed to speak. The new rules would also prohibit any speaker from addressing any board member by name, criticizing any board member, superintendent, or district staff member, and would prohibit the broadcasting of all public comments during all board meetings.

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HATE HOAX: Police say no hate crime in viral high school hijab incident

Following a viral altercation involving a hijab that occurred at Fairfax High School on Dec. 14 that prompted CAIR-backed student protests, the Fairfax Police Department have concluded that there is no evidence of a hate crime.

On Dec. 14, student Ekran Mohamed said she was called racist slurs, was pushed by two male classmates, and had her hijab pulled, revealing her hair.

In an Instagram video posted several days ago by a woman identifying Mohamed as her niece, Mohamed described the incident.

She said during a monthly meeting with marketing classes, a male Egyptian student “drew the Islamic flag and put a cross on it, like a red cross, like an X.”

She added that the male student then specifically looked at her and her two female Muslim friends. After class ended, Mohamed said she walked to see a friend, and her backpack accidentally hit a male student. Mohamed said the male student’s friends told him she said he was “ugly and little.”

Following that, the male student tried to grab Mohamed’s hijab from the back, she said. She turned around and grabbed his hair, and punched him in the stomach. Mohamed said that the male student then threw her into a desk, resulting in bruising to the left side of her body. Paramedics were called because Mohamed collapsed on the floor because she couldn’t breathe. The paramedics were called for what the school said was a panic attack.

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Los Angeles school hosts LGBTQ clubs for kids as young as 4 years old to teach transgender mutilation, ‘two-spirit’ sexuality

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of Human Relations, Equity, and Diversity hosted a 10-week online club for LGBTQ elementary school students, according to a Wednesday report from the Federalist.

The group — dubbed the “Rainbow Club” — promoted “two-spirit” sexuality and taught the intricate details of gender reassignment surgery.

The group hosted online meetings over a period of 10 weeks.

What are the details?

According to the report, the virtual club was geared toward “LGBTQ+ elementary school students, their friends, and their grown-ups.”

The outlet reported that the District Office of Human Relations, Equity, and Diversity created a variety of “short, student-facing Push & Play lessons for educators to utilize in their advisory classes.”

“Several of these presentations pushed leftwing gender theory, including one that even informed students of the ‘two-spirit’ Native American sexuality, which has allegedly ‘survived centuries of colonial violence and prejudice,'” the outlet added.

One such production featured a host who complained about European colonizers’ effects on Native Americans after they “imposed homophobia, rigid binary gender roles, and misogyny” — which the host suggested were a byproduct of the Christian faith.

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High Schools Steering Students To Alleged Porn Producer For ‘Scholarship’

Multiple high schools are encouraging their students to apply for a “scholarship” by sending their name, phone number, and physical and email addresses to a doctor who surrendered his medical license after being repeatedly accused of meeting young aspiring medical professionals online and tricking them into filming porn that he sold or posted to shame them.

In May and June, two university students separately sued Philip T. Sobash, an Arkansas doctor, saying he is “a serial sexual predator who convinces unwitting young women into sending nude images to him and then posts the images with his victims’ names and other personal identifying information onto notorious websites, inciting others to anonymously harass and attack his victims. He sells the images for personal gain. But, more than that, he enjoys harming his victims.”

On August 5, the Arkansas medical board forwarded information about Sobash to the FBI, “encouraged the physician to utilize a chaperone at all times when seeing patients,” and ordered him to come before the board in October, according to medical board meeting minutes. On October 7, the board “unanimously voted to accept the surrender of Dr. Sobash’s Arkansas medical licenses in lieu of continuing with the investigative process,” according to board records.

Lawsuits say Sobash sometimes sent small amounts of money, such as $2,000, to his victims through Venmo around the time they sent photos.

Now, Sobash has set up a scholarship fund that encourages high school and college students to personally contact him in the hopes that they will be the winner of his “scholarship”: a payment of $1,000 awarded to one student.

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Psaki: It’s OK to let children eat lunch in the cold ‘to keep kids safe’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested Friday that it is OK for kids to eat their lunches outside in cold temperatures in an effort to maintain safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked whether the White House wanted school children to “get back to a more normal school experience,” Psaki insisted schools are having children practice social distancing measures, mask up, and eat their snacks and lunch in frigid outdoor temperatures in an effort to “keep their kids safe and keep students safe.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on December 10, 2021 in Washington, DC.

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