Tag: SEL

Deer Valley Unified School District Board Member Paul Carver Offers Insights for Parents Concerned with K-12 Issues Today

Rachel Alexander

A couple of Arizona’s largest school districts have been rocked with scandals lately, mainly over administrations trying to implement woke agendas.

However, the Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD), located in northwest Phoenix and surrounding cities, has escaped much of the controversy. Paul Carver, who sits on the governing board, said he believes it is because his district stresses transparency and teamwork. He said the superintendent has regular interfaith meetings, which have been transferred to Zoom since COVID-19, and the superintendent and many board members try to include everyone regardless of demographics.

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Casa Grande Union High School Governing Board Adopts ‘Woke’ History Curriculum

Rachel Alexander

The Casa Grande Union High School Governing Board (CGUHSGB) voted 4-1 on July 11 to adopt the history curriculum for a year from Savvas Learning Company LLC, a company known for producing “woke” educational materials. The board justified the decision since the existing curriculum was outdated, having not been updated within the past 15 years. Also, the board pointed out that some teachers had already begun incorporating the Savvas textbooks.

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Georgia School District Spent Millions to Train Teachers and Implement Social Emotional Learning

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A Georgia school district spent nearly $5 million to train teachers and provide a social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, a new education model that has been criticized for laying the groundwork for Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the classroom, according to a public record request by No Left Turn In Education (NLTE), an organization focused on “radical indoctrination” in schools.

Gwinnett County Public Schools paid EL Education, the creator of a Language Arts curriculum grounded in SEL, to provide a K-5 curriculum and give teachers professional development training through the 2022-2023 school year, according to a NLTE public records request obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. SEL focuses on teaching students social skills for their emotional well-being and has been deemed by critics a tenant and euphemism for CRT.

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‘Psychologically Abusive’: Some Back-to-School Programs Dividing Students by ‘Gender, Culture, and Identity’

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A back-to-school curriculum focused on social-emotional learning (SEL) lays the foundation for Critical Race Theory (CRT) by dividing children through the creation of identity charts, “getting to know you” questionnaires and classroom contracts, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A curriculum created by Facing History and Ourselves, a group that partners with more than 100,000 teachers to provide education resources to combat “racism, antisemitism and prejudice at pivotal moments in history,” has a five day back-to-school lesson plan that teaches kids about gender, culture and identity. The curriculum is based in SEL, which focuses on teaching students social skills for their emotional well-being but has been criticized for laying the groundwork for CRT in the classroom, as similar lesson plans based in SEL are growing in popularity across the country, experts told the DCNF.

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Parents Raise Alarm over Gender Ideology and Race Essentialism Pushed in Classrooms Through ‘Social Emotional Learning’

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Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not the only three-word phrase that has parents concerned; Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the latest curriculum headache that education experts warn is permeating the American public school system.

SEL purports to teach students social skills that aid their mental health and emotional wellbeing, yet has been criticized as both a tenet of and a euphemism for CRT, which has become a hot button issue among parents, teachers and politicians concerned about the state of the country’s public schools. Educators are teaching gender ideology and race essentialism under the guise of SEL, education experts told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

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GOP Lawmaker Claims School Officials in His State Found a Loophole in the Ban on CRT

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A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma is sounding the alarm on what he says is just the “wicked woke stepsister of” Critical Race Theory.

Oklahoma state Senator Shane Jett has proposed legislation to prohibit the teaching of so-called Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in K-12 public schools. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (DOE) is using the seemingly nice sounding name “Social and Emotional Learning” to implement the curriculum as a loophole in a state law that restricts teaching concepts like CRT, according to Jett.

Jett believes his bill, if passed, would shut that loophole and keep SEL out of public schools.

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Virginia School District Denies That Voicemail Says ‘Woke Special Services’

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Fairfax County Public Schools bus in parking lot

Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) in Virginia denied that one of its departments calls itself “woke” in an automated voice message, Fox News reported Friday.

“Sorry, woke special services 2 email is not available, record your message at the tone,” the Department of Special Services automated voicemail appeared to say. FCPS said the message actually said “Wok” for one of their administrative centers, Willow Oaks, Fox News reported.

The Department of Special Services organizes into four different offices which includes help with psychology services, student safety and wellness, social work and special education.

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Parents, Educators Dispute over Critical Race Theory, Wit and Wisdom Curriculum at Metro Nashville Public Schools Board Meeting

Corinne Murdock

Parents and educators debated over the Wit and Wisdom curriculum and critical race theory during the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) board meeting on Tuesday.

The room was filled with individuals, 60 of which had signed up to speak. Not all of the public commentary concerned the Wit and Wisdom curriculum or critical race theory – but the dialogue that did focus on those two topics was equally, deeply divided. A total of 10 individuals spoke in favor of critical race theory and the Wit and Wisdom curriculum; 3 spoke against it.

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Part of Wit and Wisdom Curriculum May Violate Tennessee’s Critical Race Theory Ban, According to Moms for Liberty

Corinne Murdock

A parent coalition is concerned that the Wit and Wisdom curriculum, approved for use in 33 counties, may violate Tennessee’s K-12 critical race theory ban. The coalition, Moms for Liberty of Williamson County, formed a parent-led deep dive team to examine the entire curriculum, including the accompanying teacher manuals. According to their findings, Moms for Liberty of Williamson County believes that one of the learning modules within the curriculum for second graders teaches content that was banned from K-12 education recently by the Tennessee legislature: that one race is inherently superior to another; that individuals should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or another form of psychological distress because of their race; that the U.S. is fundamentally or irredeemably racist; and the promotion of a division between or resentment of a race.

Wit and Wisdom incorporates a type of education called “social-emotional learning.” The curriculum tackles history and complex topics such as segregation, animal reproduction, and death through the English language arts.

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Behind the Scenes of the Effort to Recall Six Pro-Critical Race Theory Loudoun County School Board Members

Corinne Murdock

Parents are organizing to recall six members of the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) School Board who kept schools closed and reportedly allowed and encouraged critical race theory curriculum. LCPS parent Ian Prior – one of the leaders behind Fight For Schools, the recall effort – informed The Virginia Star that they have secured more than the 10 percent of votes each member obtained during the last election – and they’ve been busy gathering more. 

“At last count last Sunday, we were at 60 percent for Beth Barts, 54 percent for Ian Serotkin, 42 percent for Denise Corbo, 27 percent for Leslee King, 24 percent for Brenda Sheridan, and 20 percent for Atoosa Reaser. That was 10 days ago. People are out there collecting signatures: going door-to-door and attending events,” explained Prior. “We want to make sure that we have more signatures than required, which will obviously protect us from any challenges or whatnot. We’re still determining the best way forward.”

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Moms for Liberty Williamson County Lays Bare Evidence of Critical Race Theory, Suicide Ideation, Violence, and More in Curriculum Across 33 Counties

Corinne Murdock

  FRANKLIN, Tennessee – After around 1200 hours of investigation, a parent-led deep dive team uncovered how a widely-used English curriculum in Tennessee pushes narratives on history and introduces K-5 students to a range of concepts such as Critical Race Theory, suicide ideation, gender fluidity, alcoholism, promiscuity, torture, cannibalism, and more. The curriculum, Wit and Wisdom, offers social-emotional learning (SEL) and was produced by the organization Great Minds. It is approved for use in 33 counties. Moms for Liberty (MFL) Williamson County Founders Robin Steenman and Lori Friedheim presented their team’s findings on Tuesday during their public event, “Let’s Talk Wit and Wisdom.” The group gave attendees packets with comprehensive reviews on the Wit and Wisdom books and teacher manuals. MFL explained that these reviews are works in progress. Up-to-date versions of their reviews of these curriculum materials are available here. The Wit and Wisdom K-5 curriculum is divided by grade and then by module. At the start of the presentation, Steenman outlined 9 common themes and ideas that their deep-dive team recognized in Wit and Wisdom: suicide ideation, condemnation of White people, displays of extreme emotion, cannibalism, opposition to the nuclear family and America, dark imagery, graphic death, and age-inappropriate content…

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