Biden, Democrats seek to flood millions into school model with questionable ties to critical race theory

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Randi Weingarten: Very few teachers go into the profession wanting to be 'social justice warriors' but politicians cause them to be one

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said during a back to school town hall with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that people don't become teachers to be social justice warriors.

FIRST ON FOX – The Biden administration and Democrats in Washington have been pushing for millions in funding for a union-backed model of schools that included some critical race theory concepts.

Biden's 2023 fiscal budget calls for $468 million for a "community schools" program. "Community schools" are focused on embedding "culturally relevant" pedagogy and "restorative justice" practices within its structure, according to the Coalition for Community Schools. The Department of Education promotes the coalition – which includes the American Federation of Teachers union – on its community schools webpage.

Politifact is more concerned with making sure critics of President Biden are held accountable than the White House itself, according to a new study.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

"It comes straight from critical race theory," Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation told Fox News Digital about "restorative justice" and "culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy." 

"Restorative practices" is the antidote, so to speak, to the "systemic racism" that critical race theorists claim plagues America, Gonzalez said.

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Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said Democrats are "gaslight[ing]" parents about how CRT comes into play in U.S. schools. 

"Culturally responsive pedagogy" is about disassembling "a common culture and focus[ing] on dividing students according to… their ethnic cultures and pushing an agenda that's based on students' ‘identities.’ As critical race theorists would see it, identity is kind of defined in terms of intersectionality. That… is the connection between culturally relevant or responsive [pedagogy] and CRT," he said. 

Residents of Loudoun County, Virginia, have helped make critical race theory a national conversation in 2021.  (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

Eden wrote that "When parents hear terms like… 'Culturally Responsive Education,' and ‘Restorative Justice… they would be fundamentally correct to go to a school board meeting and complain about critical race theory."

"All of these practices are influenced by and have the same politicized purpose as CRT, which… defines itself not merely as a ‘theory’ but also as an activist practice," he added.

The AFT union has been one of the strongest leaders for the community schools agenda. 

"Culturally responsive practices, social-emotional learning, and community schools are not add-ons. Culturally responsive education values the knowledge and skills students bring from their homes and communities,"  Weingarten said,

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This is not the first policy the Biden administration has proposed with ties to critical race theory. According to OpenStax, a free textbook resource which received seed money from Bill Gates, "Advocates of critical race... theory seek to expand... equity by compensating past victims of injustice through law and public policy... For example, because Black Americans experienced discrimination in the past, the Biden administration proposed in 2021 that the federal government issue special equity grants to Black Americans."

Shital Shah speaks to Wayne County Public Schools expressing support for the community schools.  (Screenshot/YouTube)

A current Biden official—Shital Shah—advocated for the community schools agenda in the AFT and continued to do so at the Department of Education. 

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According to a post on Shah's twitter, a description of community schools included a focus on "taking historical/structural issues into consideration; dismantl[ing] structural racism." 

"President Biden and Secretary [Miguel Cardona]… believe that this strategy should play a vital role in building our education system… We've already taken steps to act on this commitment," Shah has said.

Part of the "community schools" strategy included dismantling racial oppression, according to an image a Biden official posted on Twitter.  (Screenshot/Twitter)

The Department of Education reiterated how community schools are focused on change outside the school.

In a video posted to its YouTube channel on the topic, one of the presenters said, "We see that people are focused on equity… It's about changing what happens in schools, but also understanding the systems that promote economic [sic] equity to begin with and mobilizing resources to address those inequities both inside and outside the school as an institution."

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American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten praised the deal as a "game-changer for teachers and families drowning in an ocean of online dishonesty." (REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo)

Additionally, the American Federation of Teachers union has backed bills proposed by Democrats on community schools.

For example, the AFT has expressed support for the bill from Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., which called for over $3 billion for the agenda.

Fox News Digital reached out to Randi Weingarten's AFT union for comment, but they did provide one. 

When Fox News Digital asked the DOE whether CRT concepts are in "community schools" a spokesperson said, "This is a baseless and blatantly political attack aimed at undermining a school model that Congress created a program specifically to fund, and disparaging dedicated public servants at the Department of Education working to make students and families lives better."

The U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C.  ((Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images))

"Community schools focus on providing students with the supports they need – like mental health care  – something all leaders should want to work towards, particularly in this moment," the DOE said.

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The DOE did not respond to Fox News Digital's question regarding what was "baseless" and "blatantly political."

Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House, and they said "This is not true" but did not provide a comment on what, specifically, was not true.