REVEALED: The ($333.33 per Minute) Ibram Kendi Videotape
As reported in several prior posts on this site, the Fairfax County School Board paid Ibram X. Kendi $20,000 for a one-hour Zoom appearance in August 2020 at the kick-off session for the school year. Fairfax County schools spent an additional $44,000 to purchase his books.
Fairfax Schools Monitor wanted to see what the school officials said about Kendi, and what words of wisdom he conveyed, that warranted paying him $333.33 per minute. (Not a bad rate of pay for someone who preaches that to love capitalism is to love racism!)
INTERVIEW: Asra Nomani on CRT in America’s Schools
Fairfax County “Mama Bear” Asra Nomani recently joined WABC’s “This Is America with Rich Valdes” to discuss the increasing use of divisive, neo-Marxist critical race theory (CRT) in the nation’s schools. “There is a political machine that wants to control the schools and thus the kids,” Nomani said. “They have an agenda that is not in sync with the parents.”
Much of the conversation focused on the battle over merit versus race-based admissions to Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”).
Privilege Bingo: Military Kids Need to Check their Privilege?
Schools across the country are increasingly obsessed with identity and it’s not unusual to see classroom resources and lesson plans that include activities focused on the concept of unearned privilege. White Privilege. Male privilege. Cisheteronormative privilege. The belief that being a member of the “dominant culture” automatically imbues one with privilege undergirds most diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and practices and is a basic tenet of critical race theory and critical gender theory.
airfax County Public Schools may have just outdone themselves on the lessons-on-privilege-front with a district-approved English lesson that includes a bingo game.
PURVES: Return the Surplus, Don’t Reward Failed Schools
Virginia ended Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 with a record-breaking budget surplus of $2.6 billion. (Virginia’s budget year, or fiscal year, is from July 1 to June 30.) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam stated that the surplus was due to Virginia’s great business climate, pointing out that CNBC ranked Virginia as the #1 state for being business friendly. Not everyone agrees with CNBC. The Virginia Industry Foundation last November ranked Virginia as #11.
1776 UNITES: Open Letter to School Boards
The prevailing narrative of racial grievance has been corrupting the instruction of American history and the humanities for many decades, but has accelerated dangerously over the past year. The most damaging effects of such instruction fall on lower income minority children, who are implicitly told that they are helpless victims with no power or agency to shape their own futures.
LISTEN: Julie Perry on WMAL
Julie Perry, Virginia’s 86th District GOP nominee for House of Delegates, joined WMAL’s Larry O’Connor for a live interview Tuesday morning. Perry, a Fairfax County Public Schools educator, discussed the district’s regrettable embrace of critical race theory.
According to Perry, rank-and-file educators are not driving the new, Marxist-inspired push in district schools. “Teachers are afraid to speak out,” the candidate said. “They are terrified of retaliation.”
“Let Them Die,” Leete Said. Fairfax Dems Applauded.
Outside last week’s meeting of the Fairfax County School Board, two rallies were held. One consisted of parents opposed to critical race theory (CRT). The other represented a very different, “woke” point of view. The “woke” rally featured a speaker named Michelle Leete, who fulminated against those who disagreed with her revolutionary worldview: “Let them die. Don’t let these uncomfortable people deter us from our bold march forward.”
New Coalition Launches: “Educators for Youngkin”
Political outsider, successful business leader, and Republican nominee for governor Glenn Youngkin announced today the launch of “Educators for Youngkin,” a coalition of teachers, parents, educators, and community members across Virginia that are committed to restoring excellence in education. Glenn Youngkin and the Educators for Youngkin Coalition will work to fix standards and underperformance in all Virginia schools.
Yes, Virginia, There Is Critical Race Theory in Our Schools
School districts across Virginia have been expending resources, directing staff time, and hiring consultants to address “equity” in curriculum delivery and for professional development of teachers and other employees. Fairfax and Loudoun County, the two largest counties in the Commonwealth, have set the lead in driving the changes in education and embracing critical race theory and “anti-bias” in their respective divisions.
Abrar Omeish and the Left’s War on Individualism
Every year, high school and college graduating classes sit down and listen to a commencement speech. A top student, an influential figure, or a faculty member will deliver the typical tropes on conquering fears, realizing dreams, and never giving up. It might be full of clichés, but this encouragement has been the go-to oration for a reason. In recent years, these addresses have turned into soapboxes, as leftists spout political rhetoric and inform the students how the world is a terrible place.