Submitted by John Arbeeny.
I attended (via ZOOM) the Clover Park School District Board meeting on 28 March 2022 I was particularly interested in the presentation by Tim Garchow, Executive Director, Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) about their “Cultural Competency Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (CCDEI) program.
CPSD’s discussion of this program was a prior Board agenda item and topic of some controversy. Garchow’s presentation cleared up a lot of issues but at the same time also generated questions about the program.
A brief overview of the WSSDA program.
WSSDA has been tasked by the Legislature in SB 5044 to develop this training for all 1477 school board directors in the State. The WSSDA policy applies only to school director training and not to similar training to administrators, staff and teachers which will be developed by the Professional Educators Standards Board (PESB). Thus Garchow was unable to address issues related to the PESB program. It appears that the WSSDA program is about a year ahead of that of PESB.
At the core of the WSSDA program are five components as follows:
A. Recognizing diversity and cultivating inclusion
B. Developing cultural competency
C. Addressing opportunity and outcome disparities
D. Eliminating identity discrimination
E. Dismantling institutional racism
An introduction presentation and components A, B, C will be part of the first iteration of training with D and E as follow on presentations. All training will be in separate 2 ½ hour learning sessions over the course of 5 years to 8 years. Components A, B, C encompass legislative subject requirements. D, E were suggested by the legislature, WSSDA Board and Director membership. The objective of this training is “….expand their (director) skills and understanding while meeting the state requirements of school director training.” The actual curriculum won’t be developed until late 2022 with training commencing in 2023.
Now for some observations and commentary.
Director David Anderson asked the most relevant question first: “How does CCDEI measurably help us reach academic competence among our students?” Garchow’s answer was: “That is not a question that I can answer at this time.” Thus the primary purpose of this training appears initially to simply meet another legislative requirement levied on school districts. This training may be of some peripheral benefit to school board members individually and corporately. However, you have to wonder how much retention and impact it will have when training occurs a total of 2 ½ hours each of five sessions over a period as long as 5 to 8 years. It thus appears more to be adhering to the “letter of the law” rather than “spirit of the law” in enhancing academic competence.
“Cultural competence/proficiency” seems have arisen in importance as a foundation which underlies DEI. Garchow admitted in a district with “dozens and dozens of languages” and that true cultural competency was not possible. He stated that in order to become a cultural expert you need “lived experience”. He stated the purpose is to have directors “….recognize differences in cultures. It’s not about being an expert in cultures.” Indeed that thin veneer of cultural competence might not extend beyond, as Garshow put it “…60 different ways to say good morning!” A single class of 2 ½ hours over as long a period of 8 years doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of “cultural competence”. Perhaps a more appropriate term would be “cultural primer”.
However DEI is not limited to just those speaking foreign languages. It is most often associated with “people of color”, “marginalized groups”, “minorities”, “under-served communities” based upon race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, intersectionality, etc. Many of these individuals were born and raised in the Unites States, in many cases for generations. Perhaps a “sub-culture” would be more descriptive. Will the proposed DEI training be as superficial in these areas as it will be for “cultural competence” upon which it appears based? If it is, then there is a real question about the viability of DEI: can it be any more effective than the cultural “competence” foundation upon which it is built? When you build your argument upon a flawed premise, even using perfect logic, you must of necessity arrive at a flawed conclusion.
“Recognizing the differences in cultures” as the stated goal also begs the question: “to what are these alleged differences in culture being compared to? Each other? I don’t think so since Directors and staff don’t have the cultural experience to make that comparison. However there is a culture in which all Directors and staff have (or should have) extensive life experience that should be at the core of any cultural training. That culture is the unique culture of the Unites States of America. This is the very culture that these other cultures and sub-cultures are suspended within and need to be compared to. Will that be a part of the WSSDA training? It certainly should be.
I have personal “lived experience” dealing with other cultures. I come from a family of very mixed cultures, languages with immigrant grandparents. I have also been married for 42 years to a wife who is of a different race, nationality, culture and language. I can say “good morning” in at least 6 different languages but that’s not what makes one culturally competent. In all my immigrant, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and now 4th generation relatives the first priority was and is to integrate grand parents, parents, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and spouses into American culture while preserving within the family what we as individuals think are the best of the mother countries’ culture.
Cultural preservation is very individualistic and varies widely even among my own family members and generationally. That is a personal decision beyond any Board member’s cultural comprehension. There was no question about why these diverse families and family members left their mother countries for the United States: they valued our culture which held out the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and thus they became Americans by choice or birth. I think it less necessary for educators to become cultural experts than it is for them to educate those of many cultures in the culture in which they now live.
We have to propose an entirely different approach to CCDEI training beginning at the values level within the Country we live; not just to oppose the superficial DEI concept itself, and the impossible “cultural competence” complex foundation upon which it is built. We have to develop a mirror image of CCDEI that embraces the core values of the Country we live in and have experienced rather than attempting to wrap our arms around a myriad of possibilities with which we have no expertise at all. Here are my suggestions for a United States centric cultural competence that should be part of WSSDA training. Perhaps it can be expressed as USCCUEI as below.
US cultural competence vs. Multi-cultural competence: The difficulty and prejudice of divining the cultural back ground of every individual based upon external features and prejudice of race, ethnicity, etc. must be flipped. Indeed we have a culture that should be common to all: the unique culture that is the United States of America. That is the “cultural competency” that must be taught yet it appears that many in the educational field have forgotten it. US culture should be at the core of any “cultural competence” program! It is far easier and necessary to inculcate that common culture based on the values of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” than try to account for every possible cultural permutation found in any classroom or society. These students will eventually become adults and have to survive and succeed in a common US culture rather than being segregated in some racial ghetto or ethnic barrio and thus outside the benefits that a free and open society can provide. As generations pass the cultural norm of immigrant ancestors will become increasingly diluted into that unique American culture.
Unity vs. Diversity: Our Country’s motto is “E Pluribus Unum”: out of many one. It is not “E Unum Pluribus”: out of one many. What makes the United States so unique is our diversity UNITED under a common philosophy which can be enjoined by anyone from anywhere regardless of race or ethnicity. Use the analogy of the wire rope cable that holds up the Narrows Bridge. It is made up of thousands of smaller separate wires bound together into bundles, wound together into a cable capable of supporting thousands of tons. Had that cable been disassembled into its individual strands it would not have nearly the same strength in separated “diversity” that it had in combined “unity”. So it is with our Country and the soon to become adults educated in our schools. It is that unity of purpose, composed of our diversity that gives us strength far beyond just the sum of those individual diverse component parts.
Equality vs. Equity: The flip side of equity is equality. It is enshrined in our founding documents. “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”. It is further enunciated in the Constitution in the 14th Amendment: equality under the law. That equality gives no preference or penalty to anyone based upon race, ethnicity or other group characteristic. What the individual achieves within that equality is a measure of their character (which includes work ethic, morality, intellectual capabilities, etc.) not skin color or ethnic background. This is an equality of opportunity not equality (equity) of outcomes.
Individuality vs. Inclusion: The Declaration of Independence and Constitution declare the supremacy of the individual and individual rights conferred by “their Creator” and protected by government. People were not meant to be lumped into convenient groups or lose their individuality. The Bill of Rights is a bill of individual rights, not “group” rights. That individuality makes each of us unique, with unique skills, interests, ambitions, capabilities, values, personality and character from every other human being on the planet irrespective of our erstwhile racial/ethnic “group membership”. It is that individual ability that schools must maximize so each student can enter into adult life the best they can be. There are too many individual success stories of individuals coming out of slavery, poverty, race, ethnicity, etc. to think that they did it by “group inclusion” in some well intentioned focus group of “stakeholders”. No, they did it individually and that’s what we have to promote. Students enroll in schools individually, not in groups.
Pledge: The Pledge itself has within it the elements of equality, unity and individuality. This is why children and adults should willingly Pledge Allegiance to the Flag to rekindle and reaffirm those values that make our Country great.
“Under God”: The implication is that we are judged by God as a Nation and as individuals not a member of or some collection of groups.
“Indivisible”: one nation united. It’s in our name United States of America. The unity of our diversity is what gives us strength beyond just the mere total of its numbers.
“Liberty and justice for all”: equality of all races, ethnicities in all aspects of American life. This is our value, even if some individuals do not ascribe to them.
Human beings are fallible as is the idea of some “perfect” mandated utopia. Rather than achieving “perfection” it is a goal towards we strive and even as we approach it reexamine it constantly as we move into the future. Does anyone ever achieve perfection? No because there’s always room for improvement. As the Preamble to our Constitution states we strive to form “a more perfect” not “the perfect union”:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity….”
This should be the core of any WSSDA training for board members. It is this culture, striving to achieve that “more perfect union” that has been the foundation of our Country’s success. It is the inculcation of those same cultural values into our board members, administrators, staff, students and their families that will make them part of the National cultural experience and lead to a “more perfect” educational system, society and Nation.
We have to develop a mirror image of CCDEI that embraces the core values of the Country we live in and have experienced rather than attempting to wrap our arms around a myriad of possibilities with which we have no expertise at all.
Here we go with your misinformation agenda again regarding the CCDEI and your attempt to integrate your thoughts, ideas and wishes how CCDEI should be implemented in the Clover Park School District and all school districts across the state of Washington and the United States of America.
I find it funny that you are able to Pick and Choose the words of some of historical documents that support your idea of USA culture while leaving out the parts of the US Constitution that does provide for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.
Or the parts of the Federal law that provides for Civil Rights for All Americans born in the United States of America and simply overlook the about 400 years of RACISM by mostly white Americans towards all American Citizens of Color that had to endure Slavery, Segregation and mistreatment towards our fellow Americans for several generations and hundreds of years of unfair, unequal and discriminatory treatment by the majority America which is the “Whole” point of HB 5044 Washington State Law, the Washington State Constitution and the United States Constitution, the First Amendment and the Civil Rights Bill of 1964.
Very well stated. Something that’s been muddied along the way. The preamble spells it out simply and perfectly. No one is perfect but we all should strive for perfection. Thanks you
Such a well thought out, intelligent article. Thank you, Mr. Arbeeny.
So your response is assimilation and cultural imperialism? John Arbeeny, give it a rest. Everyone has a culture, plain and straightforward everyone should not be forced into a mold they do not fit. What is the harm in recognizing differences, respecting differences, and teaching children to do the same? Data proves that with DEI and CC, people thrive. Children thrive but see; you have to leave fox news and find credible research on the subject matter. What you and your old cronies are fighting for is an ideology of white supremacy, whitewashing, and it is so gross and vile. The sad part is you believe the stuff you write.
Self-actualization is considered part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Every child should feel affirmed in their culture. To do this, they are not excluded or left out, and their history is told correctly; they have people around them with whom they identify and even look like them and by removing barriers to accessing education. You fight every week against all of this. We are not in the ’50s where you seem stuck. I used to think it was the fact that you are ignorant and just didn’t know better. But that’s not true; you know exactly what you are doing. You, Paul, and Dave have been plotting on this community for years for political power. You wrote several emails that are now public regarding your plan to sow discord and lie to the community, you know, “good cop, bad cop” the emails are on (Taniesha Lyons community Advocate page on Facebook under timeline photos.) Why John Arbeeny, why the children? Paul Wagemann has been on the board for over 10 years. Why was there never a concern then? Why now? Is it the fact that you have a problem with a black superintendent? You used 10th-grade data to convince the community that the district was graduating unprepared seniors. Yet, your son Paul’s son, Andersons Kids, and even mine have all graduated and gone on to college and are all doing well despite the narrative you are pushing.
As you stated, no district is perfect, and they realize that to have better outcomes, they have to do better and address disproportionate data and look at who is being overlooked and why. Don’t you want that? You hate this community, it’s clear, and to whoever or whatever hurt you and caused you to be admittedly hateful, I am so sorry.
But to wreak havoc and lie week after week in your echo chamber, why people still publish you, I don’t know.
https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/education/2022/03/07/critical-race-theory-history-teachers-broadening-perspectives/9363690002/
When you can’t attack the message attack the messenger. You and many like you are the ones stuck in time, kicking and screaming as the Board begins to transform itself thanks to Paul and David. Yes our sons graduated but at least in my case both boys had to leave CPSD and finish out their junior and senior years at Pierce College in order to get an education. That was 20+ years ago and things have headed downhill since.
I “hate this community”? You don’t even know me to make such a biased statement but it seems true to form. Your ad hominem attacks (a logical fallacy) say more about you than anything about people you don’t even know. Try to stick to the topic. Since everyone has their “own culture” it becomes arguable whether any one person can slip into that culture who hasn’t experienced it first hand. I have had that experience on a day to day basis and every day I’ve been alive. Do you? How many languages are spoken on a daily basis in your home?
Children don’t need a well meaning woke individual with no experience to stroke their cultural affinity: that’s what their family is for. To attempt to do so could be considered patronizing and condescending. Indeed it can be considered cultural appropriation. You don’t have to use the language of the ghetto or simulate a southern drawl just to show you’re hip because you’re not being authentic in doing so…………..and kids will know that.
John Arbeeny, give us your definition of equity, not what you think it will do, but define it for us. I bet you won’t because if you did, you know that will tell us you have no clue what you are talking about; you are going by a script you didn’t even write. You have no idea what equity even is. None of you do. If I’m wrong, prove it define equity.
“Racial equity is when two or more racial groups are standing on a relatively equal footing. An example of racial equity would be if there were relatively equitable percentages of all three racial groups living in owner-occupied homes in the forties, seventies, or, better, nineties.
The defining question is whether the discrimination is creating equity or inequity. If discrimination is creating equity, then it is antiracist. If discrimination is creating inequity, then it is racist. Someone reproducing inequity through permanently assisting an overrepresented racial group into wealth and power is entirely different than someone challenging that inequity by temporarily assisting an underrepresented racial group into relative wealth and power until equity is reached.
The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
Ibram X. Kendi
Yes equity is all about race, all about evening up percentages of population based upon race, all about outcome rather then opportunity and the use of racial discrimination to achieve those goals.
Exactly what I thought. You have no idea what racial equity or equity is. What you described is not racial equity. There are many types of equity such as educational equity and health equity. They all focus on their title, but the equity portion means removing barriers to access the school district has an educational equity policy with a piece of the policy focusing on disproportionate data outcomes based on the district’s data that identifies that there are achievement gaps for BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) students. The race component is an addition not a substraction and it is simply to reduce the achievement gap by providing support where needed, not lowering standards but helping students who may be struggling by providing support based on student needs. What you are talking about is so not what equity is. John Arbeeny, your way will hurt children and produce even larger disparities. For the love of God, please reconsider what you are doing; you genuinely believe you are right, and you are not.
You are giving false information to the community where the adults make all the decisions, but children are the ones who will be harmed. Please go to other organizations and look at their equity policies; they all are designed (if done correctly) to identify where access barriers are and seek to remove those barriers. The race is a component of some policies where gaps are recognized but not all. Do your research with credible, unbiased sources. Not fox news or CNN or anything like that. You are petitioning our community to fight against their own children’s best interests. I am praying God has mercy on your soul. You are fighting to keep children struggling because you seek political power it’s just not right. And as far as Ibram X Kendi goes, you should read the entire book and not pick things out of context. I can tell by your comment that there is absolutely no way you read the whole book because if you had, you would know that he talks about how every person on this earth has a bias toward someone else, and we all have to work on it. He never once identifies a single race but talks about humanity as a whole and how we all must work to be antiracists.
John, you speak logically to those who view logic as the enemy of their agenda which is control through fluidity and disruption – the way of the martial arts.
You can’t find reason in anything that changes constantly with no pattern.
This is more of a fight than a discussion.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Can you please help define equity so we can get some context? Thanks!
“Racial equity is when two or more racial groups are standing on a relatively equal footing. An example of racial equity would be if there were relatively equitable percentages of all three racial groups living in owner-occupied homes in the forties, seventies, or, better, nineties.
The defining question is whether the discrimination is creating equity or inequity. If discrimination is creating equity, then it is antiracist. If discrimination is creating inequity, then it is racist. Someone reproducing inequity through permanently assisting an overrepresented racial group into wealth and power is entirely different than someone challenging that inequity by temporarily assisting an underrepresented racial group into relative wealth and power until equity is reached.
The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
Ibram X. Kendi
Yes equity is all about race, all about evening up percentages of population based upon race, all about outcomes rather then opportunity and the use of racial discrimination to achieve those goals.
No TL: I understand exactly what equity is and you can’t hide from it or behind it. Your definition of equity doesn’t come close to reality as per Kendi. You’re stuck with your radical leftist ideas that have been exposed semantically and now contextually: equity is all about race. No amount of “dilution” is going to change their meaning. Even Ibram X. Kendi agrees with me.
“Please go to other organizations and look at their equity policies; they all are designed (if done correctly) to identify where access barriers are and seek to remove those barriers. ” The problem is that discrimination is never done correctly regardless of the goal. You don’t achieve noble goals by using ignoble means. It’s the same excuse given by young radical leftists who claim that past experiments in communism failed because they weren’t done “correctly”. Point of fact, communism and EDI cannot be done “correctly” and as a result are designed to fail.
CPSD has been oriented towards “social justice” for over 20 years and to what success? Despite that 20 years we are still allegedly wrestling with the same issues under a new rubric EDI. Indeed what progress in the last 5 years after having spent nearly $1M on EDI? Any quantifiable goals? Any accounting of progress? Any accountability for results? No: because they don’t exist.
If “equity” means something totally different to you than that espoused by Ibram X. Kendi, then perhaps you should invent your own lexicon of terms devoid of the inferences and underlying bases of his.
John Arbeny, you described equality and not equity. Equity is the vehicle that leads to equality by removing barriers to access. Again you are taking Ibram X Kendi’s quotes of context without reading the book. I did a book club last year on the book and a workgroup you could have benefitted from attending. I don’t mean that condescendingly either; I am talking about reciprocity. At least you would know what you are talking about. I know the book, and your comments are telling me you have not read it cover to cover or you are intentionally seeking to mislead people once again; it’s one or the other, and I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you don’t know what you’re talking about and genuinely don’t understand.
John Arbeeny, Ibram X Kendi is not a monolith for antiracism work, but he is all Fox News talks about. There are tons of research done on this work. EDI is not new. It’s just new to you. John Arbeeny, step away from the echo chamber’s conspiracy theories. Every time you post, you lose more and more credibility. It’s sad. So far, you have been exposed for your email conversations of planning to dupe the community; you know, “good cop bad cop,” utilizing improper data you knew was incomplete to deceive the community admittedly, and then the discipline policy and EDI. The emails you wrote while claiming to be an expert on subjects you are not even equipped to define correctly. I am done going back and forth with you; it’s useless. You have an agenda and a script; it’s clear. The people who believe are fighting against their own children’s best interest. This is the reason why I asked you to define equity because, as I said from the very beginning, you have no idea what you are talking about, and you just proved I was right. Thank you for that.
“…….you have been exposed for your email conversations of planning to dupe the community; you know, “good cop bad cop,” utilizing improper data you knew was incomplete to deceive the community admittedly, and then the discipline policy and EDI.”
Accusations with no merit and totally off topic.
Read up on “good cop bad cop”: it’s a tactic used by police, military and campaigns. Typically the “bad cop” exposes the problems and confronts the issues while the “good cop” proposes solutions in campaigns. It has nothing to do with “….utilizing improper data…” to deceive the community. I’ve run several campaigns since 2000 and have some successful experience with it.
EDI isn’t new to me! I’ve been following for over 20 years with Dr. Doris McEwan’s statement that CPSD was all about social justice and look what it’s gotten us academically and behaviorally. Before that there was a push for “self esteem” as a given rather than earned through achievement. How old were you in 2000 and when did you start following EDI?
Regarding Kendi, he has put himself front and center on the subjects of EDI and is a recognized “expert” in the field although I totally disagree with his world view. I am not talking about “equality”; that is not what equity is about. I quoted Kendi directly……in context…..and took his definition of equity as THE definition with which to work. You may not like that but equity is not equality. You may have a “kinder gentler” version of equity but you are attached at the hip ideologically because you are using the same language in the same context.
Read the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution: not once is equity mentioned but equal/equality is. Equity is group oriented (what ever identifies as a group or combinations of groups……i.e. intersectionality); equality individual oriented. Rights are individual rights not group rights although EDI pushes for group rights based upon any number of defining characteristics. Individuals enroll in school; not groups.
I will continue to post and am not worried about losing credibility with you or others who believe as you do. We simply disagree on fundamental issues. My job is not to convert you be rather clearly state another position that many support. I have done so without casting aspersions upon you personally because that is irrelevant to the argument. You’re clearly passionate about your positions so in the future let’s stick to the topic at hand and refrain from personal attacks: it doesn’t strengthen your position.