Pittsburgh public schools approve measure to instruct teachers on ‘White supremacy’ in math classes

The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board has voted to hire a consulting group that educates teachers on how to replace “White supremacy culture practices” in math instruction with methods that center on the “wellness of students of color.”

On October 25, the board approved a measure to give Quetzal Education Consulting $50,000 to dismantle racism in math classes.

As reported by The Center Square, the consulting group states that its workshops teach “antiracist math” and will help equip teachers with tools to “identify, disrupt and replace” practices that perpetuate White supremacy.

Ebony Pugh, the Director of Public Relations and Media Content for Pittsburgh Public Schools, confirmed to Fox News Digital that the Board of Directors of the School District of Pittsburgh authorized its offices to enter a contract with Quetzal.

The move will provide the school with “additional foundational knowledge of antiracist math pedagogy and tangible learning experiences that can be implemented with students.”

Quetzal will provide support through introductory workshops for math teachers and a leadership series for administrators.

The school board’s agenda for the meeting confirms the purpose of the introductory workshops, which will confront “oppressive practices in math instruction with practices that center the wellness of students of color and to provide opportunities for math departments and math teachers to grow their antiracist math praxis collaboratively in pedagogy and instruction.”

It was also confirmed that participants in the leadership workshop series will “engage in an ongoing workshop series in the topic of antiracist math leadership.”

“The purpose of this series is to equip educators who have completed the Antiracist Math Workshop Series Edition 1 to develop and lead towards a more cohesive and aligned math instruction praxis across classrooms, departments and schools. Participants will learn how to train others in the topic of antiracist math, as well as how to identify issues of equity in math spaces,” the school board tab added.

Several schools, organizations and states have issued guidance and promoted teachers’ programs that seek to remove racism from mathematics.

In 2021, the state of Oregon defended the “Pathways to Equitable Math Instruction” teacher training, which advises that a focus on finding the correct answer in class is an example of White supremacy infiltrating schools.

“The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so,” a document for the “Equitable Math” toolkit reads. “Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.”

Similarly, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics hosted a webinar in 2022 that discussed antiracist math and asked to eliminate all examples of “tracking,” which they claimed was a form of “spirit murdering” inflicted on children of color through math.

Tracking is defined as a method used by secondary schools to group students based on ability, IQ and achievement.

https://nypost.com/2023/10/31/news/pittsburgh-public-schools-approve-measure-to-instruct-teachers-on-white-supremacy-in-math-classes/

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Oklahoma Governor Defends funding for Nation’s First Religious Charter School

Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is criticizing a lawsuit filed by his state’s attorney general against the nation’s first religious charter school as a “political stunt.”

“Nobody is forcing kids to go to any religious charter school,” Stitt said in a phone interview Monday with The Daily Signal. “A charter school is just another option. And if a parent chooses that that’s the best option for their kids, why is the government standing in their way?”

“We just think this is a no-brainer,” he added, critiquing “radical groups” for “suing and coming after religious freedoms and education freedom because they want to try to lock kids into a ZIP code school, even if it’s not the best outcome for them.”

The lawsuit, led by the state’s Republican attorney general, challenges the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s vote to approve the authorization of funds for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the nation’s first religious charter school.

“This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child’s education,” Stitt said in June following news of the board’s approval.

But on Friday, state Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed the lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, claiming that funding the school would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment and that the Constitution does not allow for “sectarian control” of public schools.

“Today, Oklahomans are being compelled to fund Catholicism,” Drummond said in a statement. “Because of the legal precedent created by the Board’s actions, tomorrow we may be forced to fund radical Muslim teachings like Shariah law. In fact, Governor Stitt has already indicated that he would welcome a Muslim charter school funded by our tax dollars.”

“That is a gross violation of our religious liberty,” he said. “As the defender of Oklahoma’s religious freedoms, I am prepared to litigate this issue to the United States Supreme Court, if that’s what is required to protect our constitutional rights.”

Stitt told The Daily Signal on Monday that he finds it a “head-scratcher” why the state’s attorney general, a fellow Republican, is taking that stand.

“He should be defending the board, but instead, he’s actively trying to join in with these left-wing groups out of California and challenging religious freedoms,” the governor said.

“We believe in religious freedom,” Stitt said. “We believe in school choice. We believe empowering parents to let them choose where they think the best education is for their kids. So, it’s that simple.”

In a statement on its website, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School emphasizes that the Catholic Church believes parents are “the primary educators of their children.” The school boasts that it offers a virtue-based “robust liberal arts program” that “opens the student to the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition.”

Students who previously had limited access to Catholic schools can now enroll with St. Isidore’s “rigorous virtual program scaled for student success with quality curriculum materials” beginning in spring 2024.

“The primary goal of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School is to assist parents in the important responsibility of developing the heart, mind, and soul of their child,” the school’s website says. “The St. Isidore Catholic Virtual School envisions a learning opportunity for all students whose parents desire a quality Catholic education for their child, regardless of where they live in Oklahoma.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/24/oklahoma-governor-slams-attack-nations-first-religious-charter-school

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How Government Schools Cement Power

School choice is no longer a fringe idea of traditional-leaning parents. Parents of all walks of life have come to learn the government can no longer be trusted to teach their children. School choice reforms are sweeping the nation, but don’t expect the government schools to bow out quietly. Many are stealthily cementing their power.

Take the example of the Forest Hills School District in Michigan, a state where public schools are well protected, with the teacher union-backed Democrats controlling all branches of the state government. School choice is the last thing on their minds. But times change, and Forest Hills is taking no chances.

This November, the district, in a low turnout off-year election, is asking voters to approve what amounts to a charge card with a $340 million line of credit. Using education tax dollars, the district is marketing the idea by mailing glossy flyers and newsletters promoting its “school bond proposal,” along with funding a shortfall in an operational millage, that the law allows it to do.

The district offers all kinds of enticements. A new aquatic center! Playgrounds! Technology infrastructure! Paving! Mechanical improvements! New roofing! Nothing seems left out.

What is not mentioned is the steady decline in school enrollment, down now 10 percent since 2013. School taxes should be going down, not up.

The taxes on property would start immediately and would be collected even if no bonds are issued. The school district’s current debt is $111,630,000. The current proposal would quadruple the debt. Interest payments potentially could top $40,000,000 the first year alone at today’s rates.

In 1994, Michigan voters approved Proposal A to stop government from exploiting increases in property tax valuations to fund public school spending sprees, often to the advantage of the teachers’ unions.

Children in low-valuation neighborhoods were being shortchanged by this system. So, to even the playing field, Proposal A limited property tax assessment to the rate of inflation or five percent, whichever is less. Sales tax increased two percent, which would then fund a “per pupil allowance,” which is now $9,608.

Public schools, however, have retained the right to “borrow” money via the bond market to pay for building and remodeling facilities. Public school districts took full advantage and managed to get voter approval for a laundry list of projects through school bond proposals. By 2014, according to the Mackinac Center, Michigan school districts owned a whopping $17.8 billion in long-term debt.

Money is fungible. While the public schools are prohibited from asking local taxpayers for operational funds, the “school bond proposals” give the schools more spending power, perhaps higher teacher salaries, to fend off competition from charter and private schools.

Competitors at a Disadvantage

Few private and charter schools can compete with the huge trove of funds the public schools have at their disposal. Parochial schools would have a difficult time asking for tuition that would match the per-pupil allowance. Nearly none could fund an “aquatic center,” and all maintenance and building costs would have to come from the budget or generous donors.

If public school competitors cannot offer lofty facilities, mega-sports programs, and the like, they will have a hard time attracting students at reasonable costs. Charter and private schools must also offer competitive salaries — not easy when the amply funded public schools set the bar.

Conveniently, a bond proposal is expiring this year, which allows the Forest Hills School District to advertise “no new taxes.” But taxpayers are waking up. The most recent bond proposal allowed the district to fund a $14 million new administration building that few taxpayers realized was under construction. Taxpayers would have never approved a project of this magnitude had it been pitched separately.

The bond proposal is nothing but a money grab at a time when the public school system is losing students, not gaining them.

School district bond proposals pass nearly every time and not with universal support. Tax increase requests are almost always put on off-year election ballots when voter turnout is low. Those who will benefit from the flow of millions of dollars (special interest groups, construction firms, teacher’s unions, contractors, administrators) will come out in droves to vote yes.

The bond proposal would last 21 years. No one knows what the world will be like in 21 years. Consider how radically things changed over the past decade. Taking on debt at taxpayer expense is just poor governance. Even if taxpayers are champions of public schools, that reason alone should be enough for them to say no.

https://redstate.com/heartlandinstitute/2023/10/25/how-public-schools-cement-power-n2165528

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