Schools everywhere are completely disrespecting parental rights: Ian Prior
Parent and America First Legal senior adviser Ian Prior says they won't tell you, but their interest is we need to get to them when they're young, before they have fully developed brains and can look at this and say, wait, this is ridiculous.
The war against parental rights is happening at school districts in every corner of America. "Equity consultants" are making millions of dollars off the back of taxpayers to train teachers to view everything through the lens of critical race theory, and then transform education by applying those lessons through teaching children that America’s institutions, monuments, traditions, holidays, language, and foundational principles are systemically, irredeemably racist.
America as we know it must be disrupted and dismantled for a more "just" society.
What woke Americans up was the transparency brought forth through the COVID pandemic lockdowns. For the first time, as their children participated in remote learning, many parents were able to look behind the curtain and see that schools were no longer focused on giving children the educational building blocks to succeed in the real world – math, science, reading, and writing. Rather, schools have embraced a new role of changing the belief system of children, regardless of what their parents want.
As a groundswell of parents started to speak out, the left, its media allies, and even our nation’s top law enforcement agencies went into overdrive to treat these parents as racist rubes.
Throughout this debate, we have heard that "critical race theory is simply a way to learn about the past" that "critical race theory is not taught in elementary schools or high schools" and that it is merely "teaching accurate history" and is only taught in law school and college.
America First Legal acquired narrative-shattering documents as part of its litigation against the Tredyffrin/Easttown Area School District (TESD) in Pennsylvania. They prove – unequivocally – the left’s dishonest gaslighting. Indeed, critical race theory is being taught in schools.
This past winter, TESD parent Ben Auslander exercised his legal right to inspect the documents from teacher trainings that were being used by TESD. The teacher trainings were developed by The Pacific Educational Group, a consulting organization that relies on its "Framework for Systemic Racial Equity Transformation" to contract with school districts and corporations that want to be more woke.
While inspecting the documents, Auslander began making voice notes of what he was reading. When the administrator for TESD saw this, he told Auslander that this was a copyright violation and ended the inspection.
On Auslander’s behalf, America First Legal filed a lawsuit against the district in federal court for violating his First Amendment rights. Through that litigation, we were able to acquire the treasure trove of teacher training materials that TESD and PEG had tried so hard to hide.
Those documents show that critical race theory is absolutely being implemented to transform public schools.
The slides demonstrate that the application of critical race theory by teachers is crucial to a "School Transformation Action Plan" and that the intersection of critical race theory with "schooling" is the key to systemic change.
Part of a Pacific Educational Group presentation showing a "School Transformation Action Plan," including Critical Race Theory.
That is why teachers at TESD were instructed on the five tenets of critical race theory and asked to examine issues through those lenses and apply the lessons learned through that examination to achieve "equity." The tenets are "counter-storytelling," "the permanence of racism," "whiteness as property," "interest convergence," and "critique of liberalism."
NEW YORK'S CURRICULUM IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY BY ANOTHER NAME
Specifically, in the "critique of liberalism," teachers were encouraged to deconstruct and challenge colorblindness, race neutrality, incremental change, equality vs. equity, and the myth of meritocracy.
Notably, nowhere in the presentation is there any discussion of "true history" – rather, it is all theory and bankrupt, race-based Marxist philosophy.
But the training goes even further when it asks teachers "What Does It Mean To Be White?"
In this section, it takes dozens of traits like the following and assigns them to "whiteness":
-"Whites are taught to see themselves as individuals, rather than as part of a racial group."
-"Independence and autonomy highly valued and rewarded."
-"Be polite."
-"Must always ‘do something’ about a situation."
-"Hard work is the key to success" and "work before play."
-"Emphasis on scientific method."
-"Adherence to rigid time schedules" and "plan for the future."
-"Nuclear family (father, mother, 2.3 children) is the ideal social unit."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER
This is racism defined.
First, it assigns specific traits to people of a particular skin color – white.
Second, it assumes that non-white individuals do not also value and exhibit those traits because of a different skin color.
Unfortunately, these trainings are not limited to one school district or one consultant. In fact, much of the controversy in Loudoun County, Virginia last year can be traced back to the hiring of the Equity Collaborative, an equity consultant whose CEO who once worked for the Pacific Educational Group and similarly trains teachers to apply critical race theory to their work.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
What we are witnessing is taxpayer-funded consultants and woke school systems using terms like "equity" and "culturally responsive teaching" to hide from parents a very dangerous philosophy that is not only anti-American, but seeks to undo Age of Enlightenment concepts like free will, individual liberty, Constitutional jurisprudence, and the scientific method.
To fight back, America will need more parents to stand up, take legal action and protect their rights to have a say in their child’s education.
Best of Opinion
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.