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Concerned parents---650 families in Loudoun County, Virginia, staged a demonstration outside of the local County Public Schools administration building yesterday declaring they have already or will be leaving the school district because of "indoctrination" rather than education in the classroom.
The loss of this number of students, will, of course, greatly impact the amount of money available to the district.
But the district is soldiering on in its mission.
This is not isolated to Louden County, Virginia.
To offset failing grades, some of California's largest school districts are eliminating "D" and "F" grades so they can feel better about themselves.
Public education in America is in free fall.
Be informed, not misled.
Parents are asking public schools to "educate" not "indoctrinate."
The protest yesterday represents the growing number of students that are leaving the district.
The demonstration was intended to show the district that parents are fed-up and are demanding the district educate rather than indoctrinate.
The number of pairs of shoes was intended to show that "families and teachers will continue to leave en masse from Loudoun County Public Schools as a result of the lack of focus on education and safety for students."
Several organized groups have been formed in this one school district. One of them---Citizens for Freedom---is demanding an increase in "parental rights, children's safety, medical freedom" and an end to "indoctrination."
One mom, a member of Citizens for Freedom, says that parents are increasingly looking for "alternative" education options amid the district's push for critical race theory--inspired teachings.
She says, "If the district does not respect our parental rights, focus on our children's safety, respect our medical freedom, and end in-class indoctrination of our kids, we will be forced to choose alternative means of education."
Elicia Brand, a co-founder of another similar organization, says the board is "an activist" board and is calling for increased focus on traditional school programs such as reading and math.
She says, "We have an activist school board, steadfast in doing what they can do instead of what they should do. What they should do is focus on providing only the highest standards of education in reading, writing, arithmetic, history, science, and the arts---free of political ideology and private interest groups."
"Cultural competency, race, and equity" is now required for teachers to be hired.
Education Week is reporting that schools across the country are screening potential teachers for their "cultural competency," asking candidates "what they've done personally or professionally to be more anti-racist."
Karen Rice-Harris, chair of the American Association of School Personnel Administrators' diversity, equity and inclusion committee, says: "Ultimately when we're looking for people to serve our students, my key questions are: 'Can you teach these students, even if they don't look like you'?"
EW reported that "school districts are increasingly asking teacher-candidates questions about cultural competency---how they honor the diversity of their students in their instruction and curriculum."
Given the emergence of critical race theory as a major political issue, Breitbart News says "institutions that wish to implement it may surreptitiously refer to it by other means, or camouflage it behind phrases like 'culturally responsive teaching' --which uses the same CRT acronym---culturally competent', 'social-emotional learning', 'anti-racist' and 'equity'."
After the death of George Floyd, districts seem to be putting much more of a focus on how teaching applicants think and talk about race in the classroom.
House Democrats, along with teacher's unions, are demanding $305 billion in coronavirus aid, claiming taxpayers' funds are necessary to reopen public schools.
Lauren Dachille is the founder and CEO of teacher hiring software company Nimble.
Dachille's Nimble is working on "leveraging artificial intelligence to help districts gauge candidates' cultural competence by their answers during the interview process and on their application," according to Education Week.
One factor in hiring a teacher, Dachille said, is the "level to which a teacher believes learning is achieved in school, verses at home."
Alex Moseman, Indianapolis' school district director of talent acquisition, said of hiring practices that "We want hiring managers to have a baseline about where a candidate is starting from in terms of their mindset about race...and we want to be clear from the front end about our values as an organization."
Tony Kinnett, an Indianapolis school administrator who in early November blew the whistle on critical race theory being taught in his district, said the curriculum "suggests to all our students who aren't black or brown that they are responsible for centuries of horrible oppression that the United States has built."
He says, "Every single class at Indianapolis Public Schools is founded on two strategic priorities: One is the official academic priority that we're all supposed to encourage, and the second is the racial equity priority, which sounds really great, but it actually pits our students against each other based on color."
While claiming to be solving the "race problem," public education is taking racism to a whole new level.
California school districts are dropping the grades "D" and "F".
Los Angles, Santa Ana, Oakland Unified, Sacramento City Unified, and other California districts have decided to limit or completely eliminate the use of grades "D" and "F."
High schoolers who fail a test or homework assignment can get a do-over or more time to complete the work.
Students who don't ever finish the assignments or who fail an exam will earn an "incomplete."
Proponents think it's a great idea. Everybody wins. This is the essence of equity.
Critics are blasting the plan, saying all it does is lie about a student's progress. Some call the new grading system "idiosyncratic."
One thing seems sure with this plan. California will soon be boasting the highest grade point averages in the nation, and the students will be brimming with self-confidence...until they step out into the real world.
This is an unvarnished example of relativism. If I say I am an excellent student, I am an excellent student.
If California soon claims they lead the nation in academics and grade point averages...and they will, you can decide, now that you know the rest of the story.
Train up a child in the way he should go...and this is not the way.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.