By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of Washington
Unless you only follow mainstream media sources, you’re likely well aware of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the way that it is infiltration the work place, colleges across the country and our public school systems. After the death of George Floyd last May, Racial Education and Social Justice training became a priority in many aspects of our society and most concerning, reaching the youngest of our population.
School districts across the country created new departments tasked with creating racial education and social justice training for staff and students. At the beginning of the school year, I learned that this “social justice” training would occur during the homeroom class for my students on a monthly basis. This allowed me to contact the principals at each of my 4 students’ schools and let them know that my students would not be participating and could either be excused or given an alternative assignment. As the year progressed, so did the agenda of pushing CRT.
A couple weeks ago my 8th grade daughter was doing school remotely as we were out of town. She called to me from the other room and ask me: “Mom, what does ‘oppressed’ mean?” When I learned that she was in her science class, I asked her to bring her laptop into my room and started taking a video what I was watching on the screen. The lesson went from a privilege and oppression lesson to a “power and privilege” wheel where the students were asked to circle their identities and determine if they were an oppressor or if they were the oppressed.
The lesson was not unlike most CRT trainings we are seeing around the country right now but what was particularly concerning to me as a parent was my conversation with the school principal. When I asked why this was included in a science class the principal informed me that it is the goal of the school district to have teachers of all subjects use their “professional discretion” to add this type of content into their regular lesson planning.
Like most students in Washington state, my 8th grader has essentially missed an entire year of academics due to the shutdown of the school. To see this kind of indoctrination and utter garbage replacing actual academics in the classroom is nothing short of infuriating. This particular student of mine has an IEP and receives a substantial amount of support services from the school. Most of which have come to a complete halt since March 4th 2020 when our school district initially shut its doors.
Read Jason Rantz’s coverage of this story and see the full video and listen to Julie’s interview here: Rantz: Teacher uses science class to label white middle schoolers privileged oppressors (mynorthwest.com)
Why is it so important to our public school districts to teach our children that something is wrong with them for things that have no control over, such as the color of their skin or the income of their parents? What do they have to gain by this? It’s pretty simple. Indoctrinate the kids, control the way they think and the way they behave and it’s much easier to have a compliant society. They are teaching children not only to hate themselves and feel shame but to hate their parents and the families into which they were born.
There is no end to this CRT anytime soon. In fact, just last month Governor Inslee signed SB-5044 into law that mandates Critical Race training for all public school teachers.
The final version, amended by the House, says:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that state resources have been invested to:
(a) Identify model standards for cultural competency;
(b) incorporate these cultural competency standards into both the standards for effective teaching and the standards of practice for paraeducators;
(c) develop cultural competency training programs for school district staff from paraeducators to administrators; and
(d) develop a plan for the creation and delivery of cultural competency training for school board directors and superintendents.
(2) The legislature plans to continue the important work of dismantling institutional racism in public schools and recognizes the importance of increasing equity, diversity, inclusion, antiracism, and cultural competency training throughout the entire public school system by providing training programs for classified staff, certificated instructional staff, certificated administrative staff, superintendents, and school directors that will be provided in an ongoing manner.
The bill requires all school boards to adopt cultural competency standards for board member training and board policies:
The Washington state school directors’ association shall:
- Develop cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion standards for school director governance;
(b) Collaborate with the Washington professional educator standards board to compare and align the standards for school director governance developed under (a) of this subsection with the standards of practice developed under RCW 28A.410.260. The review must include the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee and may include the office of equity established under RCW 43.06D.020.
Inslee also passed Senate Bills 5227 and 5228 into law which require colleges and medical schools to adopt a CRT curriculum.
It’s pretty clear that the goal of the socialist left is for CRT to infiltrate every area of education, from the youngest to the oldest. This is indoctrination, plain and simple. So what do we do?
First of all, please start paying attention to bills that are going through the legislature. This is the point in time that we, as citizens, have the ability to effect change. It’s tedious and “unfun” but it is important to respond to calls to action at the appropriate time. After these bills are signed into law, they are all but impossible to change.
Secondly, get your children out of the line of fire. The conversation I had with the school principal let me know that there is no part of school where my students are safe from this absolute garbage. CRT matters more to our public schools than academics. We need to remove our children from these “indoctrination centers” disguised as schools but we, as parents, as citizens, as taxpayers (I’m talking to YOU: “I’m so glad my children are grown!”) need to get in the ring and fight the good fight to get CRT and CSE (Comprehensive Sexual Education) out of our schools and bring the focus back to academics.
What can you do?
- Write to your local school board
- Attend a school board meeting and ask to make a public comment
- Show up at the school board meeting with signs and other parents.
- Show up at the school district office or at a school with other parents in peaceful protest with a unified message
- Consider running for the next open school board position
Most of all, if you are a parent, you need to remember the parental authority you have been granted by God. The school does not have the ultimate say over your child. It is within your rights for you to call them and let them know your student will not be participating in the curriculum and demand that the school come up with a reasonable alternative for your student (maybe they go read or work on another project in a different room). Stand up for your children. If we don’t rise up as parents, we will lose this country. The left is not playing around and neither should we.
