Or is it both?
The California Board of Education “wants to turn your children into militant leftists.”
In an opinion piece dated March 18, Kaylee McGhee White wrote in the Washington Examiner that “a divisive and radical educational curriculum that would force a series of courses into the public school system based in critical race theory and the social justice agenda of the Left” is expected to be passed by the California Board of Education.
She concludes by writing, “These courses will become the new norm in California, and before long, they will spread to other blue states too.”
Like Washington where perhaps, just perhaps, the Clover Park School District (CPSD) will follow suit?
On the website of Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) there is a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) referenced page that suggests students are empowered when barriers are demolished.
According to the powers-that-be at OSPI, those barriers are “power and privilege, implicit biases, and institutional racism.”
OSPI also references the National Equity Project’s (NEP) site which claims the “current system” – presumably including education – is an “oppressive, dehumanizing system that reinforces the marginalization of certain groups.” As such, individuals need to be “liberated” from the present system.
For a moment, consider that one of SEL’s curriculum goals is to “cultivate students’ political consciousness and support students to challenge injustice.”
Is it a stretch to think that the mix of OSPI’s political leanings in its SEL curriculum will become a goal of the CPSD?
At its upcoming April 19, 2021 meeting, the Lakewood City Council will discuss and vote on a joint resolution with the CPSD that targets “systemic inequality and racism (as) barriers to assuring the basic principles of diversity, equity, inclusion for historically marginalized people groups.”
The opening WHEREAS statement of Resolution 2021-04 (p.66) reads:
“The people of the City of Lakewood and the Clover Park School District value and acknowledge that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to our community.”
When did the citizens agree to this statement?
When did the city or school district’s board seek input from the citizens so as to make that all-inclusive claim?
At the CPSD board meeting the night of March 22, 2021, Grant Twyman, Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager, presented on the district’s “equity journey.”
He shared that only 31 percent of the 83 participants in workshops concerning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) were categorized as “community members.” This finding is not representative of the people of Lakewood.
During the working workshops on diversity, equity and inclusion, the participants had been asked about their level of trust – presumably their trust toward or within – the school district. Fifty-eight percent said they were “maintaining;” twenty-two percent said that trust needed to be built; and twenty percent said trust needed to be restored.
Even with this poor sampling, it is easy to see why.
Bear in mind, this is the same board that has disallowed any of Paul Wagemann’s requests for background information on the consultants which will provide diversity, equity and inclusion training; this is the same board that has denied Wagemann’s request to have his explanation concerning his “crack the whip” comment entered into the record.
Twyman was correct when he stated, “To build a healthy community, trust is critical, essential, and foundational.”
The school board has a dismal record of transparency; the statistical data the board is acting on is questionable; and what is additionally significant in this “equity journey” is the anemic level of trust.
The city council and the city’s citizens should beware.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-to-stop-critical-race-theory-in-your-local-schools-advice-from-a-school-board-member?fbclid=IwAR22okHhmjgB7aNUOToNdNzMeE_gCVbh6RfxCAwQFg753p69HJuzGqOSXpk
Mr. Anderson –
Thank you for your letter. As one past local politician put it “we need to primary them to death.” Them being those in office, which you indicated, have lost the trust of the public. I have submitted prior comments that those who have been in elected positions the longest must be voted out. If they have not accomplished what they hoped to within two terms, then they never will. I am not sure where you live but if you live in the same boundaries as Marty Shafer’s board seat then I support you running. He has been on the board since 2005 and IF an implicit bias exists in the CP Schools system if must come from the top and from those who have been in leadership roles the longest. Or, perhaps they just don’t have the leadership skills to make change that is truly needed and that is why any implicit bias remains in 2021. I support as many candidates running for that seat as possible. I strongly believe in diversity, equality, and inclusion. I don’t think people should be forced to be included because, as was evidenced by the significant backlash to the change in sexual educations as mandated by the state, not everyone wants to be included in everything. Also, I believe in equity when it comes to how much equity I have built in my mortgage but not when a system gives extra to some at the cost of others. The truth of the matter is that life does not provide equity. All anyone has to do is read the book “Harrison Bergeron” (1961) written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and they will get a taste of what life will be like if an overly authoritarian board enacts measures so that absolute equity exists. Absurdity is what it is transpires!
The Clover Park School board and now Lakewood City Council’s kowtowing to the “woke” concepts of “diversity, inclusion and equity” whether they admit it or not, are based upon “critical race theory”. It is a racist concept that assumes that the color of one’s skin leads inexorably to racism. Ironic no? Turns out race is only important to racists regardless of skin color. Rather it is a matter of character…….to paraphrase Martin Luther King.
The prime reason “critical race theory is dead wrong is its concept of “collective guilt”. We (whom ever “we” are) are collectively guilty because of our group membership as defined by identity politics (race, sex, economic status, ethnicity, religion, etc.) rather than individually guilty because of our own actions and attendant personal responsibility. Collective guilt is a core concept of “tribalism” and identity politics. It is regressive in the extreme………….not “progressive” as it claims to be. You could see this coming over the last 4 decades as people increasingly avoided taking responsibility for their lives and actions and increasingly looked outside themselves to others, groups and ultimately society as that responsible for their victimhood.
I was involved in a “sit down” with Clover Park School District while on the Lakewood City Council when Dr. Doris Walker was the Superintendent (2005?). The group met with a facilitator who initially asked what the primary purpose of the District was. Answers generally ranged from “educate our children”, “prepare them for life after graduation”, “give them the skills they need to succeed” etc. Then it came to Dr. Walker who exclaimed “to promote social justice”! I almost fell out of my chair when I heard this. The next question proposed was “What are the ground rules for this meeting?” Again the general response was “respect”, “collaboration”, “problem solving”, “fact based” etc. Then it came to Dr. Walker who said “refrain from blaming”. Ahhh ha! I think I see the problem. Shift the emphasis from education to politicization and when you fail no one has responsibility. Here we are 15+ years later and little has changed. Social justice, which hasn’t solved the District’s educational shortfalls in 15 years has now morphed into diversity, inclusion and equity which in another 15+ years won’t solve the problem either.
This is not a move for society or the school district forwards. It is a move backwards for society…………and exactly what leftist want. Add this to the assault and destruction of our institutions that allow us to exist and thrive as individuals……….rule of law, police, capitalism, family, religion, history, values, freedom of speech, legislative process, etc. and what you have is a divided hodge podge of self interest identity groups within which people lose their individuality. “Underrepresented groups” set along racial lines as the most important criteria? Really? As it turns out, it is a lot easier to control identity interest groups than it is a group of individuals each with their own identity.
Here are my objections to the proposed joint Clover Park School Board and Lakewood City Council resolution:
1. Paragraph one is entitled “Beliefs”. Beliefs may be the basis for a religion (is this what diversity, inclusion and equity have become?) in the absence of “facts”. “Belief” by itself is entirely inappropriate upon which to base programs that will affect 13,000 students and their families.
2. If the premise for an argument is false then the conclusion, even with perfect logic will also be false. In the absence of any facts the broad assertion is made that the current educational system and by extension entire country is systemically racist. Without the facts to back this assertion up, any argument based upon this as the premise is suspect. This assertion is the 21st Century equivalent to the 20th Century “Big Lie” as espoused by Nazi Germany. If it’s big enough and repeated enough it will be believed.
3. Where exactly is the original source material for the concepts proposed, specifically “diversity, inclusion and equity” and how were the injected into discussion by the school board? Without source documents you cannot know the motivation behind such concepts. Merely mouthing them without specific knowledge of their origin and you may have become nothing more than a talking head and front for something far more sinister. For instance anyone supporting the group Black Lives Matter should first research the founders (Marxists) and their ultimate intentions (destruction of the USA) before volunteering to be their mouth piece.
4. What was the epiphany that Board and Council members and district staff had that the school district was by nature systemically racist? Why did it take some of them 24 years of Board service to come to this conclusion? I’d suggest the lack of educational values, the vacuum of which has been instantly replaced by a set of “values” that give Board members something to hold on to.
5. If indeed the Clover Park School District and Board have participated in systemic racism, some for 24 years, why would anyone trust them to fix a system of which they were an integral part? If such racism existed under their watch, should they not all resign immediately and have their positions filled by others perhaps from alleged “underrepresented communities”?
6. The entire idea of “underrepresented communities” lumps students and their families in various groups rather that addressing the educational needs of individual students. It is based upon race and thus is at its very core racist. People who support it are also racists. Race is only important to racists regardless of their race. The child of a wealthy black family is no more a member of an underrepresented community than is the child of a single white mother on welfare who is not. We and they are individuals; we are not merely stereotypical members of some group based on skin color, race, religion, ethnicity, or sex.
7. The entire idea of identity politics, which diversity, inclusion and equity are the most recent manifestation, is the antithesis of the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. These are individual rights (not group rights) that government is sworn to protect.
8. These issues must be granted a full and transparent discussion, not a rubber stamp of approval by allegedly suddenly woke individuals, often white, whose virtual signaling may make them feel better about themselves but in the end will do little to help individual students achieve and indeed create rather than eliminate racial strife in our schools and ultimately community.
People love saying stuff online but let’s watch to see if they’ll actually run for office. It’s a lot easier to post stuff online compared to doing the work and learning about equity and inclusion. Guess who wasn’t able to go to school board meetings to rant when I attended clover park schools? My single mother trying to feed us, probably taking the bus home from Everett when school board meetings where happening.
Why is it ok for our society to continue to whitewash the story of America? It’s rooted in white supremacy and the hood was exchanged for the structure laid out intentionally to keep certain groups down while acting like the default is just act white. It’s 2021, past time for simple Americans to do the work of listening and learning. Keeping things status quo has got to change.
Paul can get on social media, this website, and other avenues to share his thoughts even if it isn’t in the record. I’m glad that the city of Lakewood and clover park schools are United in equity work.
You and your mother, as are all people, are individuals with your own unique situation and needs. You are not merely faceless stereotypical members of some group to be lumped together and assigned some uniform level of support………or lack thereof……by government. Diversity, inclusion and equity on the face of it sound like well meaning terms and objectives but underlying them is a stark racism that seeks to divide a nation of individuals by segregating them into “people of color”, a racial/ethnic group, as victims while demeaning another race/ethnicity as perpetrators. Pitting groups against each other does nothing for the individuals of those groups: it’s “one size fits all”. However it does empower those doing the pitting! Government has found it much easier to control groups vs. control individuals. Is past President Obama’s family any more needy as members of the group “people of color” than a poor white single mother with children to support? Deal with individuals as individuals and the justification for dividing people into groups will evaporate.