Is Critical Race Theory In Your Kids’ School?
We are hearing from many of you about "critical race theory" (CRT) continuing to crop up in your children’s homework assignments and school training. But now parents are standing up to this indoctrination!
Loudoun parents continue to boldly speak up about the promotion of critical race theory, which the Loudoun County School Board spent $422,500 over two years to train staff to teach. One mother’s passionate testimony before the school board has even attracted some national attention. Click HERE to watch a video of her testimony and you’ll see why.
Thanks to The Family Foundation’s incredible Speak Up! Charlottesville members, we’ve also learned about the Charlottesville school board’s support of this same divisive indoctrination being forced onto young children. During a virtual meeting in March, the School Board members were briefed on the school system’s “Anti-Racist/Anti-Bias” Social Studies curriculum. The K-12 curriculum contains many loaded or misleading topics like: “Did the founders and founding documents protect liberty or slavery?”
Incredibly, during the meeting a teacher can be heard describing how the question about whether the founders or founding documents protected liberty or slavery “opened a can of worms of discussion about our racist history.” (Watch the video beginning at the 1:50:29 mark.) No doubt this discussion seems like something inspired by the 1619 Project that’s being propagated by academic elites and the Biden Administration, which falsely suggests the United States was founded when the first slaves arrived on Virginia soil in 1619.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request we obtained, some of the curriculum used by Charlottesville schools revealed that the school system is relying on materials produced by Learning for Justice, a social justice organization founded by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
As you may know, the SPLC is well known for its intimidation tactics to advance its radical LGBTQ and Marxist agenda, such as labeling conservative groups, like the Family Research Council (FRC), as hate groups. Their irresponsible hate group list is what actually inspired Floyd Lee Corkins to enter the FRC headquarters on August 15, 2012 and shoot a security guard in a failed attempt to harm more employees.
Parents in the Albemarle area also are raising concerns about similar “anti-racism” themes cropping up in their schools—particularly at Henley Middle School. After parents raised concerns about extreme CRT proponents like Dr. Ibram Kendi and Tiffany Jewell being listed as resources in a scope and sequence document, they were told these were meant to be references for adults. However, the scope and sequence document for "anti-racism advisory lessons" does state that "Portions of Tiffany Jewell’s book This Book Is Antiracist will be introduced to students." The good news is parents are on the alert and continue to make their voices heard in districts across the state.
It is important to remember that school boards can make decisions that may be more far-reaching and significant than many statewide offices that impact your child’s schooling. While selecting who will become Virginia’s 74th Governor or will make up the majority in the General Assembly are critically important, it’s equally important to be aware of who will serve on your local school board. Not only do they determine the quality of the public school buildings and assess safety procedures during emergencies, they also approve the textbooks and the curriculum that is being taught.
To have a direct impact on society and preserve our communities, conservatives need to become more involved with institutions (schools and school boards) that are influencing the next generation.
That’s exactly what Loudoun and Charlottesville parents and citizens are doing! If you have stories to share about what’s happening in your kids’ schools, share them with us at VAFAMILY@FAMILYFOUNDATION.ORG.
