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Six Reasons Why The Oklahoma State Legislature Should Ban The Use of SEL – Social Emotional Learning – Through SB1442

Last year, the state Legislature – prompted by outcry from parent and taxpayers across the state and the nation – passed HB1775, a rejection of the teaching of tenets tied to Critical Race Theory.

Unfortunately, CRT tenets are still entering classrooms around the state, packaged under the heading of Social Emotional Learning.

WHAT IS SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Social Emotional Learning is a theory which, according to the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), became an “essential part of education” “through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible caring decisions.”

CASEL also goes on to say that “SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy and just communities.”

While every parent wants their child to have traits like empathy and every teacher wants a classroom of children who can manage their emotions, SEL programming does much more.

Like so many before it – Outcome Based Learning and Common Core to name a few – SEL has been federalized through numerous grant programs and school accountability requirements. With the carrot of $122 billion dollars in funding via Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) funds, the Biden Administration has lured schools into a program that fosters philosophies steeped in race, with which many parents and taxpayers disagree.

CONCERNS WITH SEL:

#1 Brings CRT Concepts Into Schools and Classrooms

Karen Neimi, the President and CEO of CASEL (Collaborative for Academic Social Emotional Learning) makes it clear throughout a nearly 50-minute video, that, “We believe that our work in Social Emotional Learning must actively contribute to anti-racism” and that CASEL has “prioritized issues of equity in the center of our work for a long time.”

Deena Simmons, Ed.D, Assistant Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and an Associate Research scientist at the Yale Child Study Center advocates that, “You can’t be trauma informed if you’re not talking about racism. Without an anti-racist lens, SEL is white supremacy with a hug”.

One Edmond mother recently researched an SEL program being used in her child’s classroom – Conscious Discipline – and found a letter written by founder Becky Bailey, in which she says that her program is “based on and steeped in inclusion” and that they will train their employees in “anti-racist” goals, using Ibram X Kendi’s “Raising Antiracist Kids” and CASEL’s “SEL as a Lever for Equity”.

Dr. James Lindsay explains the mechanisms by which SEL is used to bring CRT concepts into classrooms in a video interview, and Dr. Susan Berry cites numerous articles which bring awareness to this fact in ‘Social Emotional Learning’ Now a Vehicle for Critical Race Theory”.

Oklahoma passed HB1775 in 2021. This bill specifically states, “Any orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or a bias on the basis of race or sex shall be prohibited.” Because CASEL’s specifically stated goals include race stereotyping and bias, SEL programming should be banned from classrooms under the law.

#2 CASEL Foundation Supporters Have Leftist Political Philosophies

CASEL Foundation ‘supporters’ are also a cause for concern. Bill and Melinda Gates have been tied to a slew of ‘education reform’ issues beginning with the Obama education reforms in 2008 which have been completely unsuccessful such as Common Core, School Turnaround and teacher effectiveness initiatives.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has been investigated in several states for their interference in the 2020 presidential and state elections.

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation uses AI to ‘democratize’ data, and uses data to establish racial equity and create climate change solutions.

New Profit is an organization dedicated to raising money to fight social injustice and to establish racial equity through influencing government.

The NoVo Foundation is funded by Warren Buffet. “NoVo also increased our funding to a wide variety of organizations focused on ending violence, giving voice and generally lifting up the truth about systems that have continually oppress (sic) girls and women – Black. Brown. Indigenous. Cis. Trans and gender non-conforming.”

The Raikes Foundation seeks to create systems that will better empower marginalized communities and create a more just and equitable world.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation promotes socialized health care and bemoans the effects of climate change on “health and equity”.

Wallace – “Our mission is to foster equity and improvements in learning and enrichment for young people…”

#3 SEL Trains Students As Activists

CASEL cites 10 ‘indicators’ of ‘high quality’ SEL implementation. The first four are; ‘Explicit SEL Instruction’, SEL Integrated with Academic Instruction, Youth Voice and Engagement and Supportive School and Classroom Climates.

Number 3 involves teaching students to use their voice (agency) to advocate for change.

In this video about ‘Schoolwide SEL: Youth Voice and Engagement”, we hear from Mayrydennia Perez, a student who explains how, in 10th grade, students didn’t like a class they were given so they protested. This involved the entire 10th grade class walking out of school and Mayrydennia was very happy to report that the Administration ‘listened to them’ and the class was changed the next year.

Children are not adults. Giving children ‘agency’ – autonomy – to defy school administration, teaches children they have a power they don’t have the worldview yet to process rationally. Giving students ‘voice’ and teaching them to engage on issues is not giving students more responsibility, it’s teaching students to use their emotions to react as activists – I don’t like this, so instead of finding a calm, rational solution, I’m going to get mad and walk out. How does THAT help students manage their emotions?

#4 SEL Uses Lots of Behavioral Surveys

School climate surveys are used to gauge students’ feelings about different factors associated with their school under the guise of creating ‘supportive schools’. Here are some questions that can be found on Oklahoma’s School Climate Survey:

  • Do you know what consent means?
  • During the past 12 months have you experienced sexual activity when you did not want to?
  • During the past 12 months has your dating partner hit, slapped (sic) or physically hurt you?
  • Do you currently receive sexual health information? If so, from where?
  • Do you feel like your school supports and affirms your identities?
  • Choose 3 topics you would like to learn more about: pregnancy, bullying, substance use, mental health, violence prevention, sexual health, LGBTQIA+, other

Data is then compiled into a spreadsheet so that the ‘risk profile’ of the student can be determined and a student effectively pigeonholed by his or her behavior.

Another SEL survey called Success Highways is given to students in middle school through 10th grade in Oklahoma. The results tell the administrator of the survey the level of academic ‘risk’ for the student in several different categories.

Here are some questions on the Success Highways questionnaire:

  • The reason I keep coming to school is because if I don’t I’ll get punished
  • In the past week, how often have you experienced breaking things when angry
  • In the past week, how often have you experienced feelings of danger
  • In the past week how often have you experienced nightmares
  • In the past week how often have you experienced overeating
  • In the past month how often did you have difficulty paying for recreation and entertainment

These surveys are given in ‘advisory’. The main questionnaire was over 100 questions with other smaller surveys given depending upon the topic. A concerned Edmond mom took a considerable amount of time researching Success Highways and found it linked to ‘Emancipatory Communitarianism’ a form of social justice, among other issues.

A federal law the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) passed in 1978 protects children from surveys or questionnaires that ask:

1. Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student’s parent; 2. Mental or psychological problems of the student or student’s family; 3. Sex behavior or attitudes; 4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior; 5. Critical appraisals of others with whom respondents have close family relationships; 6. Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as with lawyers, doctors, or ministers; 7. Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parent; or 8. Income, other than as required by law to determine program eligibility

Schools MUST send out letters to parents describing the survey and ask for permission to give their child the survey. Unfortunately, this only applies to surveys administered using federal funds and schools get around this caveat by having an in-state agency (OSDE, OSDH) administer the survey as in the case of the CDC Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, or they simply don’t provide them to parents as in this opt out form for School Climate Surveys.

Schools should NOT collect behavioral data on students for numerous reasons:

  • Whether there is an active parent in the home or not, parents MUST be the ones dealing with their child’s behavior – not a public school. Parents know their children MUCH better than anyone else and behavioral data collected at school is only as good as the context in which it’s collected.
  • Often, students lie on surveys to be funny or because they don’t want to answer the questions truthfully. Answers are collected and recorded, leading to improper data collection and results.
  • Many schools are not trained to collect and analyze data and as such data can be misapplied and results meaningless.
  • Data is not safe and parents have no say or knowledge as to how the data is disseminated or to whom, leaving their child’s behavioral profile to be used to sell further educational products or used in ways that could expose the child.

#5 Not All School Counselors Respect Parent Authority OR HB1775

A recent blog involving a walk through the Oklahoma State Department of Education website involved a great deal of connection with the American School Counselors Association (ASCA).

Further research found that the ASCA is another organization steeped in the philosophy of racial justice. An article on their website titled, “Racial Justice Starts At School” indicates that one of the primary functions of school counselors is to “address racism and bias in their school counseling programs.”

In fact, the article goes on to say that, according to the 2020 State of the Profession survey report, “About 42% of school counselors said they are monitoring student behavior to identify racist behavior or speech, 38% are providing individual counseling and 35% are providing classroom lessons…”

This kind of monitoring should be frightening to parents whose children could be counseled for racist ‘behavior or speech’ when there was none such meant. What about children 3 In addition, how in the world could this kind of counseling be done without violating the tenets of HB1775?

Several parents have reported that, following Success Highways surveys, counselors have called their children in to their office for counseling. Once the parents became aware of the practice, the counselor stated that their child was in a ‘low-risk’ category (the risk category never explained to them) and did not require parental notification for counseling. This is a clear violation of Parent’s Rights and should not be allowed.

Then there’s the fact the school counselors have Common Core like “Mindsets and Behaviors” standards – specific behaviors which children should exhibit in order to be ‘successful’ students. Never mind that every student is different and success is as different for each as they are from another. Counselors collect behavioral data on students through these standards.

#6 Teachers Do Not Need A National Program To Help Children

Though SEL has been in classrooms in some form for years, teachers have been helping children develop character by prescribing classroom responsibilities for many decades without it. Good teachers have always had rules in their classrooms to inform students of the ways in which they must manage their own behaviors – raise your hand before asking a question, no talking when the teacher is talking, no hitting or bullying – a program to do this is simply unnecessary and a waste of dollars and time that could be better spent studying academics.

It seems completely bizarre that, while Oklahoma’s NAEP scores have continuously fallen in nearly ALL subjects, schools are now stopping class to have children talk about their feelings in a classroom not staffed by a trained behavioral psychologist.

It’s also a bit bizarre that ESSER funds were meant, in part, to be spent on SEL programs to mitigate student ‘trauma’ resulting from COVID school closures, yet schools created the crisis they now want to mitigate. In fact, numerous studies have indicated that school closures caused students more harm than the virus itself.

It appears that much of the push for SEL is being driven by rising discipline problems in classrooms and schools over the years, made worse by a Dear Colleague letter sent to all US schools asking them to adopt discipline polies that would promote equity in classrooms. This letter resulted in numerous problems in classrooms around the country as schools became unwilling to discipline special education or students of color.  

SEL behavioral programming will accomplish little to nothing until administrators allow teachers to discipline students who provide disruption in the classroom. Disruptive students should be removed from class to allow the rest of the class to learn. Once removed, administrators should work with parents to help the child realign their behaviors and return successfully to the classroom. Why put a program in place to deal with an entire class of children when administrators could simply deal with discipline problems on an individual basis?

True, some parents do not parent their children and some children have deep-seated behavioral issues, yet nothing prevents schools from working with individual students in these circumstances by referring them to state, or private, behavioral assistance – all children should not be placed in behavioral training for the few students who need it.

Sadly, SEL programs will not help the fact that many Oklahoma schools say one thing, but do another. What good does it do to have SEL in every classroom, yet when a student reports something as serious as sexual assault, nothing is done by the Administration to rectify the situation? This has happened more and more often, as administrators abdicate their role in school discipline as seen in both Shawnee and Bixby recently.

In closing, like so many other federalized educational programming, SEL will not produce the results desired and has the very large potential to in fact, inject harmful and unlawful philosophies into classrooms.

Supplemental Links and Information:

New Study Finds Multiple Problems with Push for Social-Emotional Learning in K-12 Education (https://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/new-study-finds-multiple-problems-with-push-for-social-emotional-learning-in-k-12-education/)

Oklahoma School Climate Risk Screening Scale (https://www.scribd.com/document/523717182/Oklahoma-School-Climate-Student-Risk-Screening-Scale)

Oklahoma High School Climate Survey (https://www.scribd.com/document/523755206/HS-Student-Climate-Survey-1)

Social Emotional Learning, Part 1: The New Age Nanny State (https://idahofreedom.org/social-emotional-learning-part-1-the-new-age-nanny-state/)

Social Emotional Learning, Part 2: How SEL Became A Vehicle For Critical Race Theory (https://idahofreedom.org/social-emotional-learning-part-2-how-sel-became-a-vehicle-for-critical-race-theory/)

Social Emotional Learning, Part 3: How Did This Happen In A State Like Idaho (https://idahofreedom.org/social-emotional-learning-part-3-how-did-this-happen-in-a-state-like-idaho/)

Social Emotional Learning Now A Vehicle For Critical Race Theory (https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/09/social-emotional-learning-now-a-vehicle-for-critical-race-theory/)

Social Emotional Learning: The Dark Side (https://nancyebailey.com/2018/03/19/social-emotional-learning-the-dark-side/)

Emotional Learning Will Be The Downfall of Society (https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/emotional-learning-will-be-the-downfall-of-society)

Jenks Directs Parents To ‘Social Justice’ Materials (https://www.ocpathink.org/post/jenks-directs-parents-to-social-justice-materials)

Pushback Against SEL Bubbles Up In Idaho (https://www.edweek.org/leadership/pushback-over-sel-bubbles-up-in-idaho/2020/02)

“Meatless Mondays” and The Rise Of Social Emotional Learning in Schools (https://fee.org/articles/meatless-mondays-and-the-rise-of-social-emotional-learning-in-schools/)

What’s So Great About Social Emotional Learning (https://truthinamericaneducation.com/social-emotional-learning/great-social-emotional-learning/)

Gasp! How Will We Educate Without Social Emotional Learning (https://truthinamericaneducation.com/social-emotional-learning/gasp-how-will-we-educate-without-social-emotional-learning/)

Trading Academics for Far Left ‘Social Emotional Learning’ (https://illinoisfamily.org/education/trading-academics-for-far-left-social-emotional-learning/)

Using Schools To Retrain Kid’s Emotions – What Could Possibly Go Wrong Here (https://thefederalist.com/2016/12/14/using-schools-retrain-kids-emotions-possibly-go-wrong/)

How Social Emotional Learning Could Harm Our Kids (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/streams-of-consciousness/how-social-emotional-learning-could-harm-our-kids/)

Using Schools To Retrain Kid’s Emotions – What Could Possibly Go Wrong Here (https://thefederalist.com/2016/12/14/using-schools-retrain-kids-emotions-possibly-go-wrong/)

Schools Ditch Academics For Emotional Manipulation (https://thefdrlst.wpengine.com/2016/10/19/schools-ditch-academics-for-emotional-manipulation/)

How Social Emotional Learning Became Another Vehicle For Anti-White Racism In Schools (https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/08/how-socio-emotional-learning-became-another-vehicle-for-anti-white-racism-in-schools/)

Zuckerbucks Aren’t Just Tampering With Elections, They’re Tampering With Your Kids’ Education (https://thefederalist.com/2021/08/02/zuckerbucks-arent-just-tampering-with-elections-theyre-tampering-with-your-kids-education/)

Social-Emotional Learning and Teachers Students Love? Teachers in Los Angeles! (https://nancyebailey.com/2019/01/22/social-emotional-learning-and-teachers-students-love-teachers-in-los-angeles/)

3

Success Highways Edmond Public School’s SEL Vehicle for Middle and High Schoolers

By Emily Wright 1/8/22

In the fall parents of EPS middle and high schoolers received letters with information regarding Success Highways a resiliency curriculum being taught during advisory hour. The letter stated:

“What makes students persevere despite adversity? Resiliency makes the difference! Resiliency is a set of protective characteristics possessed by those who are able to adapt to hardship and succeed. It determines why one group or individual student succeeds and another does not. The research found six interrelated resiliency skills that are critical to student success. These skills include: valuing education, academic confidence, connectedness, stress, health and well-being, and intrinsic motivation. A student becomes more resilient if they improve performance (includes attendance, behavior, coursework), take ownership of their education, set and work towards goals, take responsibility for their lives, manage adversity, and thrive in school and beyond. Edmond Public Schools received a grant to implement a Resiliency Curriculum and Assessment called, Success Highways.”

EPS superintendent, Dr. Grunewald, says CRT is a theory only taught in law schools, but it is actually being practiced in our schools via Resiliency Curriculum and Assessment program, Success Highways. (Resiliency is code word for Social Emotional Learning.) Designed for at-risk, inner city students, this program was originally known has Achieving Success Identity Pathways (ASIP).

Under the guise of safety the schools have accelerated the Marxist indoctrination. I believe most teachers and parents buy what is sold to them and have no idea of the ill-intent behind these programs. The schools will say that students must “feel” safe and accepted to achieve academic success and SEL is necessary, especially now in the midst of a pandemic.

If you peel back the curtain on the objectives and the basis of SEL Curricula you will find that these programs are not about teaching “kindness”, “resilience” or academic success skills. Rather, SEL aims to indoctrinate your child and provide them with a Marxist mindset and lens to view the world with. EPS embraces diversity, equity and inclusion which are the basic concepts one must embrace when seeing the world through a racist CRT lens. Just take a walk through any middle school and high school and you will see posters with DEI terms adorning the walls.

CRT posits that white systemic racism organizes American society and its institutions (police, schools, courts, Pro sports teams etc.)

SEL is the vehicle (delivery system) used to teach CRT notions to students. SEL is not only the delivery system but is CRT in praxis (in practice). SEL is just political programing used to ultimately transform children’s core values, attitudes and beliefs. It divides families and silence dissenters by tacit intimidation from the schools, government, media, Hollywood etc.

SEL is the advancement arm of Marxist ideas under the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion movement. DEI is the introduction of identity politics to your children. The process of divide, demonize and destroy is in full swing and schools are the recruiting and brainwashing posts churning out the Neo-Marxist, America hating army of social justice warriors.

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS AND SCHOOL BOARDS ARE COMPLICIT! THEY ACCEPT FEDERAL FUNDING AND APPLY FOR GRANTS THAT HAVE USERED IN THIS GARBAGE.

“Resiliency” curriculum promotes “Victimhood Mentality”; Direct Your Ire Not at Your Parents, but at Society (White Privileged People) Jump on the Social Justice Train!

“Resiliency” Success Highways Based on Emancipatory Communitarianism

The author of Success Highways, psychologist Dr. Scott Solberg supports Emancipatory Communitarianism upon which the program is based.

What is Emancipatory Communitarianism? Isaac Prilleltensky first conceptualized EC in 1997. It is the hybrid of liberation psychology and communitarianism. Liberation psychology promotes individualism and groups, whereas communitarianism stresses responsibilities to each other in the larger community. Counselors, psychologists are to become agent for social justice and through your work train your clients to become fellow social justice warriors to work along side with you to destroy America. What about major role parents play or an intact nuclear family plays in child’s success in school. Unlike traditional theoretical approaches, EC favors (targets) the poor and disadvantaged. The end goal: distributive justice; practitioners directly training clients to advocate in political social spheres. EC psychology is being used to advance the CRT narrative pushed 24-7 by our government, the media, professional sports organizations, corporations, Hollywood etc.: (oppressor vs. oppressed), promote equity; level the playing field by redistributing power ( reverse racism against whites).

“In researcher-practitioner collaborations, the clients are most often individuals who receive services from an organization or system. The goal of working with practitioners is to discover and implement strategies that empower their clients to overcome existing challenges and inequities. From feminist psychotherapy (Enns, 1992) we are encouraged to understand the nature of power and, as “trained professionals,” the importance of redistributing this power using egalitarian strategies that enable practitioners to find their own voice in shaping the discourse and perspectives being offered. From emancipatory communitarianism (Blustein, McWhirter, & Perry, 2005; Prilleltensky, 1997) we are encouraged to address social justice by examining whether and how our strategies empower practitioners to effectively intervene within the context surrounding their clients, enabling clients to successfully navigate their own challenges as they strive to realize their career and life goals. From my experiences, all of these skills and perspectives play an important role in setting the foundation for establishing effective researcher-practitioner collaborations.”

Scott Solberg, speaking at the Conference of the Society of Vocational Psychology, May 16–17, 2016, Florida State University

Who is Dr. Solberg, What COMPANY Does He Keep? Who Does He Work For?

The creator of Success Highways is Dr. Scott Solberg. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Counseling and Applied Human Development at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Solberg translated ASIP into Success Highways, a one-size fits all curriculum that could be marketed to schools in 2006. Success Highways, under the ScholarCentric umbrella. According to his BU bio he serves as a “subject matter expert in providing resources, presentations, webinars, and consultation services” for a number of organizations and agencies including CASEL, and Council of Chief State School Officers.

History professor, director of the Center for Anti-Racist Research and author of How to Be an Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi, is a fellow colleague of Solberg at Boston University.

“In researcher-practitioner collaborations, the clients are most often individuals who receive services from an organization or system. The goal of working with practitioners is to discover and implement strategies that empower their clients to overcome existing challenges and inequities. From feminist psychotherapy (Enns, 1992) we are encouraged to understand the nature of power and, as “trained professionals,” the importance of redistributing this power using egalitarian strategies that enable practitioners to find their own voice in shaping the discourse and perspectives being offered. From emancipatory communitarianism (Blustein, McWhirter, & Perry, 2005; Prilleltensky, 1997) we are encouraged to address social justice by examining whether and how our strategies empower practitioners to effectively intervene within the context surrounding their clients, enabling clients to successfully navigate their own challenges as they strive to realize their career and life goals. From my experiences, all of these skills and perspectives play an important role in setting the foundation for establishing effective researcher-practitioner collaborations.”

Scott Solberg, speaking at the Conference of the Society of Vocational Psychology, May 16–17, 2016, Florida State University
Image result for ibram x kendi books anti racist
Image result for ibram x kendi books anti racist
Books by Ibram X. Kendi

CASEL: Distribution Arm of SEL Curricula

Nearly every state Department of Education has partnered with CASEL. Oklahoma State Department of Education has CASEL links to programs and resources on their website. Dr. Grunewald’s response to my November 1, 2021 school board speech mentioning SEL included a link to CASEL via the OSDE site:

“SEL provides a foundation for positive, long-term effects on kids, adults, and communities. Here is a current document from the SDE  that defines SEL and why we teach it.” Dr. Angela Grunewald November 2, 2021

Image result for casel

We define social and emotional learning (SEL) as an integral part of education and human development.

SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

Fundamentals of SEL – CASEL

“SEL can be a powerful lever for creating caring, just, inclusive, and healthy schools that support all young people in reaching their fullest potential. In the context of SEL, equity and excellence refers to every student—across race, ethnicity, family income levels, learning abilities, home language, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other factors—engaging in high-quality educational opportunities and environments that best promote their healthy social, emotional, and academic development.”  How Does SEL Support Educational Equity and Excellence? – CASEL

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is a member of CRT/SEL Pushing CCSSO

Dr. Solberg is also an expert consultant for America’s Promise Alliance another educational racial eqiuity organization and the Council of Chief State School Offices. The CCSSO Equity goals include:

  • Invest in principals’ ability to lead schools that support the whole child.
  • Integrate analysis of teachers’ ability to teach social-emotional competencies into licensure requirements and teaching frameworks
  • Provide funding for teacher training on restorative justice
  • Check for bias in curriculum and assessment as part of state-level review of instructional materials, and assist LEAs in implementing strategies to detect bias in curriculum and assessment, particularly for locally selected or designed materials.
  • Annually report on multiple indicators of the diversity of the educator workforce

Success Highways/Scholar Centric Blog

Parents your tax payer dollars are being used to fund Marxist indoctrination curriculums. Every company’s website lists CRT dribble and platitudes, thus Scholar Centric’s site did not disappoint. Addressing Race & Political Events in K-12 Schools – Intellispark Derek Francis wrote the Addressing Race & Political Events in K-12 Schools blog post on January 28, 2021. In that post Francis provides an link to an exercise that addresses “racial and political events” under the “Tell the Truth” section of his blog.

This exercise is “Spot the Difference” courtesy of “Woke Kindergarten”. Woke Kindergarten 60 Second Text: Spot the Difference – YouTube Francis says: “Kids are seeing these events unfold and having conversations with peers. Public violence and protest are no longer shocking for them to see. We owe it to tell the kids the truth. Have the conversation. They can handle it. They see it on social media.”

Image result for woke kindergarten
“Counseling psychology places a strong value on working towards social justice by focusing efforts on decreasing inequities experienced by low income, high risk, and underrepresented populations. These efforts are informed by an ethical responsibility to use culturally responsive interventions and multicultural communication skills—all of which are necessary when working in community settings.”

Creator of Success Highways, V. Scott Solberg, speaking at the Conference of the Society of Vocational Psychology, May 16–17, 2016, Florida State University

The “RESEARCH” Success Highways is based on is Junk Science! I researched Dr. Solberg, the author of Success Highways, combed through the bibliography of the research paper on Success Highways and looked at the empirical (not scientific) research provided. That’s right this “researched based” program is not backed up with scientifically proven data that yields repeatable results, no matter what factors are added to the testing. Instead the program is based on empirical evidence which is based on observation and experience, things seen multiple times; with the belief that is how they work. Dr. Solberg also conducted this study, not an independent researcher.

“As with any program of evaluation, our work to date has it limitations. Perhaps most obvious is our inability, at present, to assert that ASIP caused the observed improvements in student academic and behavior outcomes.”

“While we do have evaluation data to suggest that engagement in ASIP activities contributes to positive outcomes for youth, our explanations for how this occurs are as yet based in theory.”

School-Based Social Justice: The Achieving Success Identity Pathways Program April 2006Professional School Counseling pg 286

Evidence That Make You Go Hmm…These School “Professionals are Brainwashing Our Children

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) adopted a CRT/Social Justice Agenda in 2005 and Success Highways was designed to implement that agenda.

Below are some excerpts from a research paper authored by Solberg and colleague Dr. Kimberly Howard: School-Based Social Justice: The Achieving Success Identity Pathways Program Pathways (a.k.a. Success Highways) published in 2006 in Professional School Counseling. The title ( School-Based Social Justice…)even states the obvious; confirming that Success Highways is a SEL/CRT indoctrination program.

“This curriculum originally was created to assist low-income youth and youth from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in becoming aware of the oppression they experience daily, both oppression that exists in the environment and how their behavior contributes to these experiences. By teaching youth to understand how the social context shapes their behaviors and to recognize both the explicit and implicit ways that this occurs, school counselors can assist youth to develop an empowered frame of reference (Field & Baker, 2004). Once youth have attained this frame of reference, they then have the ability to choose, with both intentionality and reflectiveness, how to respond in ways that are self-affirming and consistent with their sense of fairness and justice.”

School-Based Social Justice: The Achieving Success Identity Pathways Program April 2006Professional School Counseling pg 285

“It is imperative that school counselors become actively engaged in promoting school success for all students. For youth from low-income and diverse backgrounds, future career opportunities are predicated on achieving educational success. Therefore, school counselors become agents for social justice when creating, implementing, and supporting school-based interventions designed to promote school success, especially culturally relevant interventions that target youth from low- income and diverse backgrounds. This article describes the Ecological Developmental Cognitive Framework designed to inform the development of curricula that improve school success for all youth. The Achieving Success Identity Pathways is described as an example of curricula derived from this framework and a program that incorporates the four main components of the ASCA National Model®.”

School-Based Social Justice: The Achieving Success Identity Pathways Program April 2006Professional School Counseling pg 278

“We would argue that youth from low-income and diverse backgrounds fail in school and society because oppression existing in the youth’s macrosystemic and exosystemic contexts (e.g., history of their racial/ethnic group, society beliefs regarding race, economic status, experience with racism/bigotry, media portrayals, and discriminatory housing practices) creates life experiences that result in internalized dispositions that maintain this oppression(Solberg & Howard, 2000). As a result of growing up within an oppressive social context, youth build a set of beliefs about themselves that are organized around core definitions of distrust, betrayal, danger, hopelessness, anger, loss, inadequacy, and social injustice. These core beliefs serve as predispositions and expectancies that influence their behavior across all social contexts, including school. Without intervention strategies to counter such predispositions that maintain oppression, youth who have internalized oppressive messages likely will continue to fail in school.”

School-Based Social Justice: The Achieving Success Identity Pathways Program April 2006Professional School Counseling pg 279

In Conclusion

Counselors, and teachers are not psychologists. If you choose not to opt your children out of SEL instruction they will be subjected to psychological treatment (abuse) in a non- therapeutic, uncontrolled environment complete with a healthy dose of “career training” (CRT mindset development)

Students are given a survey to pinpoint social-emotional strengths and weaknesses. The data mining will aid school officials in determining who is “at-risk” so “interventions” can be made. A post-test is given to determine SEL gains. I am not sure how you teach and then assess resilience. Genetics, individual life experiences and environment determine one’s resilience. How does teaching resilience address learning loss? How does focusing on feelings teach concepts/subjects students are behind in due to being kept out of a classroom full time for nearly a year and half? Shouldn’t we hire math and reading instructors to address the learning gaps? What does career training have to do with SEL? (Another topic for another day)

Parents take action! Question teachers, counselors, administrators, the superintendent and school board members. Speak at school board meetings. Run for the school board or actively campaign for school board candidates and/or donate to their campaigns.

The last round of Covid relief education funds: American Rescue Plan; requires schools to spend 20% of the funds on interventions that “respond to student’s academic, social and emotional needs.” PATRIOTS WE MUST GAIN CONTROL OF SCHOOL BOARDS!

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GUEST POST: Dear Dr. Grunewald, Conscious Discipline = SEL and SEL = CRT, So Don’t Tell Us EPS Is NOT Teaching CRT

This article was written by Emily Wright, an Edmond Public Schools parent.

Conscious Discipline – Social and Emotional Learning
“Conscious Discipline believes that trauma-responsive social and emotional learning (SEL) is a lens through which transformational change in the areas of racial equality, equity and inclusion is not only possible, but essential.”

Conscious Discipline is the elementary Social Emotional Learning Curriculum, used in Edmond Public schools. Click on the name and try not to vomit as you explore the site. Let not your heart be troubled and drop those Tums! 

Edmond Public School superintendent, Dr. Angela Grunewald, insisted once again that EPS does not teach Critical Race Theory during a 25 minute phone conversation with me on November 12. 

Why did I get a phone call?: I sent her an email you can read here, in response to her rebuttal of the speaker comments made at the November 1 school board meeting. 

Dr. Grunewald’s response to the Social Justice/CRT platitudes galore littering the Conscious Discipline (CD) site was that in the wake of the 2020 death of George Floyd, many companies put out these kind of messages on their websites. 

I then asked her what CD edition EPS is using and are teachers/counselors just omitting any subject matter deemed to violate HB1775. She gave the same response: EPS does not teach CRT. She then invited me to come look at the curriculum, and/or sit in on a lesson and attend a parent meeting regarding CD. (I will be attending a parent meeting in January)

Dr. Grunewald then REPEATED that EPS is not teaching CRT.

Read the letter below written by Conscious Discipline creator, Dr. Becky Bailey, that I’ve included in its entirety. You will see that CRT is embedded in Conscious Discipline’s curricula and teacher/counselor training and come to the conclusion that our tax payer dollars are funding the brainwashing of our children! 

Posted on July 29,2020 by creator Dr. Becky Bailey:

Recently we shared a public statement about racism, injustice and inequity and outlined our organizational commitment. This follow-up message is the first of many public updates we will provide as we strive to be both transparent and accountable in this critical area.

I firmly believe systemic racism must be dismantled, and I will be part of the solution both personally and professionally. As the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement call for increased equity and social justice, Conscious Discipline will answer with unequivocal support and actionable change.

Conscious Discipline’s methodology is based on and steeped in inclusion. Inclusion and unity are inseparable from our philosophy. Having said that, we are acutely aware that our company profile— particularly that of the independent contractors who make up our Certified and Master Instructor program— does not sufficiently represent the diverse cultures of many of the schools we support. Although our methodology is inherently culturally sustaining and inclusive, we believe increasing our team’s diversity will strengthen our resource offerings, our organization and ourselves, and is essential in supporting racial justice. With the urgency and importance of current events laying many of these issues raw, I feel it is important to convey some of the efforts we’ve taken over the past few years and our current commitments toward lasting change.

CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS (INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS)

Conscious Discipline Certified Instructors and Master Instructors are independent contractors who are licensed to teach Conscious Discipline. The first 15 years of our Instructor Certification program relied on candidates seeking us out in order to become consultants. This yielded some phenomenal Instructors, but also resulted in many who came from similar life experiences— most were white, female, 35+ years old, suburban and middle class. Our pool of Instructors did not reflect the rich diversity of our nation.

In 2015, we paused in accepting applications for Certified Instructors in order to undertake a dramatic reorganization. In 2017, we launched additional organizational shifts to increase equity, address the lack of diversity, and provide additional training and coaching in our onboarding process. Most significantly, we reorganized into “family” units to provide better mentorship, and we changed from an application model to a recruitment model in order to focus on engaging people of color, especially Black Americans. This intentional shift helps us to actively identify, support, remove obstacles and fast-track promising candidates who are more diverse. It also helps us to better support our growing Instructor family. This worthwhile shift has required a significant investment of time and financial resources. Even with these focused efforts, this is a long-term endeavor as many of our Instructors implement Conscious Discipline for 5+ years before becoming Certified.

We will continue to build diversity and equity in our Certified Instructor program in the following ways:
We will evaluate our Instructor Certification process to accelerate the multi-year requirements around the study, implementation and coaching needed for Certification in order to meet an initial goal of a minimum of 30% people of color, with an emphasis on Black Americans.

We will provide diversity training to all Instructors via our family structure in order to encourage individual growth and assist Instructors in creating events that are culturally informed, inclusive and equitable.

We will enlist a racial equity consultant and a committee from within our organization to work together to formulate the steps for these processes and assist in implementation. Establishing the committee, the specific steps and a timeline are all in-process, and we will periodically post progress updates.

ADVANCED INSTITUTE

The Conscious Discipline Advanced Institute (CD2) is an intense training limited to only 48 attendees and an essential step needed for Certification. In 2017, we shifted CD2 from open registration to an invitation-based event. We reserved 50% of CD2 invitations for people of color, with a definite focus on recruiting Black attendees. We then gifted scholarships to those for whom finances were a barrier. These endeavors have not yet yielded the diversity we seek, so we are examining additional ways to recruit more effectively. We will continue this initiative indefinitely as a specific, actionable step toward increasing equity within the Conscious Discipline community and within the educational system at large.

TRAINING

Over the past decade, I have intentionally sought out research and amended trainings to include information about intergenerational, cultural and generational trauma specifically as it relates to Black Americans and Native Americans. I will continue this internal educational process for myself and our Instructors in efforts to address cultural responsiveness, microaggression, unconscious/implicit bias and the general historical perspective that is neglected in our educational system at large. We will also continue to increase the prevalence of Black and brown teachers, administrators and mental health professionals featured in videos and images during our trainings.

Additionally in our trainings, we will be more intentional and direct about sharing the way Conscious Discipline is designed to function in relation to one’s personal experiences. Conscious Discipline utilizes skills, powers and structures, but no prescriptive curriculum. Our approach supports mindset shifts, a compassionate cultural climate (the School Family), and skills of interaction that promote resilience and healthy relationships for all stakeholders (children, adults, schools, communities, etc.). We ask adults to digest and internalize Conscious Discipline into their mental models of their world, culture, jobs, relationships and children in their care— especially regarding misbehavior. We ask each adult to utilize what they deem helpful and set aside anything that doesn’t resonate, essentially making each person’s experience with Conscious Discipline uniquely their own. One outcome of this personalization is the ability for Conscious Discipline to be culturally sustaining, accessible and applicable to all communities, including communities of color. In efforts to further ensure access to training and resources, Conscious Discipline has invested $1.5 million dollars into under-resourced areas to support their goals with Conscious Discipline in the past three years.

STAFFING

Since 2018, we have engaged a reputable external partner to guide our hiring processes. Our directive is to elevate the best possible candidates for each position, with a priority on increasing diversity in our offices. We currently have two leadership positions and one staff position open. Our goal is to fill these positions once we recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19. Promoting diversity will be a lead factor in filling these and future positions.

OFFICE EDUCATION

Moving forward, Conscious Discipline will provide ongoing education and growth opportunities for our office leadership and staff in the areas of unconscious bias and racial equity. We will engage independent experts to help assess and train employees in regard to our antiracism goals, beginning with our most critical leadership and public-facing job positions. This effort will start immediately using Insperity HR Services, and will expand as we identify additional partners.

SOCIAL MEDIA

In early June, we began to prioritize using social media to share antiracist and race education content from respected thought leaders, including Ibram X Kendi’s Raising Antiracist Kids event, CASEL’s SEL as a Lever for Equity series and the APA’s Uplifting Youth Through Healthy Communication About Raceresources. We will continue to share antiracist content as an ongoing component of our messaging on all of our social media platforms. Our intent is to amplify leading voices and resource providers that encourage safe, productive conversations about racial equality, and to present educators, students, families and communities with opportunities for growth.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Like the world we live in, I am in a perpetual state of change and growth. Mistakes and missteps are essential to this process, and I have made many in my lifetime. A foundational concept in Conscious Discipline is to expand the pause between stimulus and reaction to create room for a conscious response. I am a teacher of this process, yet I am still learning this process. I believe the path to systemic and systematic change begins within each individual, and I am leading the way the best I know how— through continuous devotion to learning and improvement.

Over the past two years, these books and online courses have deepened my understanding of race issues and social justice, and helped to uncover my own unconscious bias:How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, Ph.D., Cultural Somatics online course by Resmaa Menakem, Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won’t Save Black America by Stacey Patton, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond.

I am currently reading My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem and it is profound. I will continue to seek out powerful resources to shape my personal growth as well as the content and organizational policies of Conscious Discipline.

PRODUCT CONTENT

Conscious Discipline has consistently sought to prioritize cultural sensitivity and accessibility in our products and materials, including inviting input and making related improvements. For example:
We have historically instructed our directors and managers to ensure cultural diversity in the content and images featured in our products and support materials. This will continue in a more strategic way, including increased staff training and enlisting guidance from independent experts.

In 2019, an outside firm reviewed the Conscious Discipline e-Course to reveal implicit bias in the content. My team corrected the content that could be changed, and I used the insights as an opportunity for improvement and growth.

We have made multiple adjustments to the fabric of the Feeling Buddies in order to address color variances in certain manufacturing runs. (The desired form for the Buddies is a unisex, racially ambiguous “gingerbread” appearance.)

Moving forward, we will more closely review all new products through the lens of diversity, cultural sensitivity and inclusiveness. Our internal diversity committee and independent experts will work together to develop a Diversity Assessment Framework that will help guide new product development, training, and the marketing of our products and resources.

IN CLOSING

These are initial steps that lay the foundation for much larger shifts to come. I am eager to actively seek ways to create equity and dismantle systemic racism through awareness, compassion, connection and action— starting within myself and Conscious Discipline, and extending outward to those we serve.

Our next step toward these commitments is to develop a specific and measurable plan that will include key milestones, metrics and timelines, and will grow as our knowledge expands. As new opportunities and concerns surface, we will responsively adjust this plan. We will strive for transparency by periodically sharing updates, benchmarks and celebrations on our website and through social media.

We will be listening throughout this process, and are eager to hear from you about addressing racism, our progress or related matters.

Please email drbeckybailey@consciousdiscipline.com with your input.

As Maya Angelou famously said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” I am committed to learning more and doing better. My personal commitment to act in support of equity and social justice begins with myself and extends to my office staff, our Instructors and the Conscious Discipline family. We are all in this together, and we will continue the lifelong process of uncovering our false beliefs and unconscious biases; acquiring new skills; ensuring our policies and actions reflect our core principles of love, unity and equity; and actively living these values embedded in Conscious Discipline.

Thank you for your willingness to join us on this journey.
Wishing you well,

Dr. Becky A BaileyFounder & Chief Knowledge Officer,
Conscious Discipline

Curriculum is designed to teach set objectives. SEL is the latest fad in education and hundreds of curriculum companies have sprung up to cash in on the federal government’s and academia’s push of this garbage. 

Curriculum is approved by local school boards of education and must align with the state’s department of education standards that must align with federal standards to access any federal and/or state funds/grants. Therefore state, federal and local education entities are working in tandem to turn kids into social justice/CRT warriors meanwhile SEL/CRT curriculum companies are getting rich off our tax dollars. Federal, state and local governments are complicit in this money laundering, socially indoctrinating scheme.

Progressive SEL foundations/organizations provide funding via grants or awards too. In fact, an Edmond elementary counselor, Janessa Bointy, received the National University System-Sanford Teacher Award for Oklahoma in 2020. She was awarded $10,000 for indoctrinating school children by “demonstrating high levels of inspirational teaching practices by engaging students, building student confidence, motivating students to succeed, giving students a voice and creating an inclusive environment.” “She has been a pioneer in using the Sanford Harmony social and emotional learning program to promote strong peer relations, self-regulation, tolerance, and understanding among students.”

During my conversation with Dr. Grunewald I brought up this counselor and her use of the Sanford Harmony Curriculum and she knew nothing about its use in our district or about this honor that was bestowed upon Ms. Bointy. In my letter to Dr. Grunewald I provided this link: Sunset Counselor Wins Award and $10,000 Prize – Edmond Public Schools (edmondschools.net) I also provided CRT-laced evidence from the Harmony website. Obviously, she failed to read my letter completely, as well as answer all my questions in concerns in a professional, truthful manner. If you or Dr. Grunewald would like to know more about the Sanford Harmony program here is a link from Ms. Bointy’s above mentioned blurb:

Sanford Harmony is a PreK-6 research-based social-emotional learning program that cultivates strong classroom relationships between all students. Sanford Harmony has been recognized by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as a quality program. http://sanfordprograms.org/

Back to the phone call. 

I bemoaned the fact that my tax payer dollars are being used to ultimately rewire my kid’s thoughts, values and beliefs. I also expressed my opinion that more SEL does not address Covid learning loss and more instruction of core subjects is the solution. 

Upon expressing my disdain for EPS’s molding and shaping my child’s identity Dr. Grunewald said since my kids come from stable home with involved parents, they will be able to cope and think for themselves, but SEL is necessary because there are students that come from unstable homes and everybody benefits; some more than others based on individual needs. She said mental health is a district priority now more than ever in light of the Covid pandemic and SEL is great tool to address it. We also discussed the definition of SEL and the link she provided in her response from the OK State Department of Education to explain further why SEL is taught.

CASEL is the author of the definition and framework of SEL that school districts across the country use. I am guessing that CASEL provided this document to the state department and OK State Department just inserted their tag on it. CASEL is a clearing house for all these SEL curriculum companies. 

The information provided under the heading Teacher and Parents and subtitle SEL Resources for Parents, Educators and School Communities Related to Covid-19 will lead you to another vomit-inducing link. 

Under the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion subheading you’ll find, “Speaking Up Against Racism Around The Coronavirus – The coronavirus became racialized, so it’s critical that educators understand the historical context and confront racist tropes and xenophobia from students and colleagues”, from an organization called, “Learning For Justice”, which is a project of the “Southern Poverty Law Center“.

I also was able to find, ​COVID19 Resources From America’s Promise Alliance Partner Organizations a Google Document containing this link ​​​Talking About COVID-19: A Call for Racial, Economic, and Health Equity | The Opportunity Agenda.

From the Opportunity Agenda:

“We also need to step up our allyship with communities of color. As Race Forward stated: “Implicit and explicit racism has often historically driven government responses to urgent health situations…The Trump administration has used this crisis to stem travel from unaffected regions, including halting asylum seekers at the Southern border. Hate-filled and racist rhetoric has stigmatized people of color as “infected,” threats to public safety, and burdens to the health care system.”

“Being an ally for communities of color starts in our language and messaging. We must avoid slipping into the mindset of “othering” when talking about this pandemic or any other public health crisis.
America is currently grappling with its long legacy of racism and othering. This comes through in our messaging around COVID by allowing implicit and explicit bias to influence our thinking and language, whether it be the example of blaming specific races for the virus and its spread or referring to the virus using derogatory terms.

Instead, we should work together to actively dispel xenophobic myths and racist misinformation – and hold our elected officials and the media to doing the same. Addressing implicit bias and racism is not always easy, but it is imperative, which is why The Opportunity Agenda developed a messaging tool to help advance these conversations.”

Oklahoma has a law banning this type of curriculum/instruction, yet the OK State Department of Education has a resource sheet with clearly unvetted links to CRT political action organizations and CRT disguised as SEL curriculum resources? 

Dr. Grunwald’s response to this was: “Well you know when you start clinking on links you could end up on a porn site.”

Parents, educators, patriots please understand that SEL is a conduit of CRT. IT IS A 12 YEAR PROGRAM THAT SOCAILLY ENGINEERS YOUR CHILD by transforming your child’s core values, attitudes and beliefs. SEL lessons focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to promote “kindness” and create a “safe” learning environment for all. These lessons already occur naturally in our homes, families, communities and classrooms. It is not the school’s job to focus on feelings. Their job is to impart objective truth.

YES, Dr. Grunewald CRT is being taught in our schools!

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Why Would We NOT Want Schools To Teach ‘Grit’, ‘Tenacity’ and ‘Perseverance’?

True Grit is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time (both versions!). I LOVED the plucky spunk – grit – of Mattie Ross who stood against unbelievable odds and won the respect of a drunk old cowboy named “Rooster” – to find the killer of her father. 

Note: No one in that movie taught Mattie Ross how to be ‘gritty’ – she didn’t learn it in her one-room school house – no teacher explained to her how exactly to behave.  Mattie was apparently born a gritty young woman, but throughout the movie, we see her tenacity only increase as her mettle was tested again and again through uncertain and tough circumstances.

So why have we somehow decided that schools should teach ‘grit’, ‘tenacity’ and ‘perseverance’?

ROPE asked this question during the common core years over and over and over again.

Here’s the deal – no matter what any educrat says – THESE ARE NOT TEACHABLE CONCEPTS. 

There is no curriculum that can do it. There is no teacher in the world that can instill them. They are personality traits and one cannot ‘teach’ an intangible concept, the extent of which varies from individual to individual, and the creation of which depends upon exposure to infinitely many and different tough sets of circumstances.

The idea that we can character concepts to children is inspired entirely upon the concept of collectivism – like everything else in ‘formal education’ given us by democratic socialists Horace Mann and John Dewey – who believed that somehow, collectively, once students are all in a room together, intangible personality traits can be cultivated by exposure to a teacher/counselor/guide imparting the right ‘skill set’ rather than exposure to difficult and/or trying circumstances.

Grit, tenacity and perseverance can only be developed in a classroom when students are taught age-appropriate/developmentally-appropriate content in their subjects (reading, math, history, English, science) and then expected to meet difficult, but reasonable, reachable goals set for them on a consistent basis and adhered to without exception. These circumstances PRODUCE grit, tenacity and perseverance in students, not some magical word potion from a teacher.

We don’t provide that circumstantial framework today, however. We don’t teach age-appropriate/developmentally-appropriate curriculum anymore – it’s been diluted by years of parent complaints that material is ‘too hard’ or there’s ‘too much’ homework, and by ever-changing guidelines established by ever-changing education fads created by authoritarian educrats who develop vapid, moronic and damaging curricula such as COMMON CORE, SEL, OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION, WHOLE CHILD, ect., while gazing out the windows of their ivory towers dreaming of molding the ‘perfect society’.

It’s no wonder we have kids who’d rather stay home from work when the government waves a check under their nose – they’ve never been expected to produce anything that takes even a modicum of effort during any of the formative years. They’ve never experienced the INFECTIOUS JOY of meeting a goal they once thought insurmountable, or even extraordinarily difficult.

Excepting possibly through sports – and the classrooms of the few good teachers left – students are not only not getting challenged, but they’re not being taught much that’s actually useful for either their own edification and personal growth, or for finding and sustaining gainful employment. 

Still and all, we throw hard-earned tax dollar after tax dollar at the system as though THAT will somehow overcome the fact that public education wasn’t even founded for the right purpose – exposure to the concepts of truth and beauty for the edification and personal growth of individual children – not instruction in skill sets deemed necessary by a government to sustain an economy.

0

School Counselors Now Pushing CDC-Linked Gender Group To Public School Kids in Elk City

I was sent this screenshot from a fellow conservative activist who received it from a friend whose child is enrolled in Elk City Public Schools.

Beyond being COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE on its face, moreover, its’ hopefully a wake-up call FOR PARENTS about how many ways schools are contacting your children without YOU as the parent knowing about it.

First, let’s tackle the Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA). 

The following can be found on their “Mission” page:

Our overall strategy for fighting for educational justice is to work with grassroots, youth-led groups and GSAs, empowering them to educate their schools and communities, advocate for just policies that protect LGBTQ youth from harassment and violence, and organize in coalition with other youth groups across identity lines to address broader issues of oppression.

All of our work with students focuses on leadership development and activism that prioritizes building alliances not only across sexual orientation and gender identity lines, but also across race, ethnicity, and class lines, and our resources and trainings are designed to facilitate coalition building.

Genders and Sexualities Alliance (GSA)

They also take an active role in “training youth leaders“, which includes recruitment for clubs. This page has numerous videos available prepared to do just that.  In fact, GSA also has significant resources for use inside and outside of public schools, which include curricula and ‘took kits’.

This page is devoted to Civic Engagement and includes ideas such as:

Engaging in collective practices with a group is shown to increase resilience! This can be as simple as working on art or creative projects together, making music, dancing, or singing together, or trying out collective breathing or meditation. Our Virtual GSAs Resource Page and Queer and Trans Wellness Resource Page has many different activities you can try out!

What’s Wrong Here

1.  This survey came as a Google Document, apparently via email:  Google Documents are easily hacked so, despite what the email says, personal information can be collected and shared.  Unfortunately, just because something says one thing, that doesn’t mean it’s done the way it was promised.

2.  The survey was given to Elk City high school students by a counselor, bypassing parents.  In many blogs, I’ve called attention to the American School Counselor Association and its link to SEL, which very much plays into the idea that equity includes LGBTQ students. From CASEL (Collaborative for Social Emotional Learning).

We imagine communities in which all young people—across race, ethnicity, family income levels, learning abilities, home language, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other factors—have the skills, relationships, and environments to thrive.

NOTHING AT SCHOOL SHOULD GO TO AN UNDERAGED STUDENT INDEPENDENT OF PARENTS

3.  Schools and teachers can contact students many different ways without parents seeing that information and that is according to state law, parents have the right to see anything the school provides their children – as it should be.  There are texting apps and email apps and all kinds of apps schools use to communicate with children.  Parents, you need to know what these are and have a copy of any correspondence with your child and the school/teacher cc’d to you.

4.  Schools have several pipelines through which LGBTQ resources are perpetuated inside the district and the classroom even beyond the School Counselor: A. The CDC offers a great deal of information regarding LGBTQ youth the use of which schools justify because it’s CDC-provided.  B.  “Safe and Supportive Schools” – a concept developed at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. to stop bullying, also provides resources and information to schools – perpetuating the LBGTQ lifestyle.  The CDC actively promotes the GSA as a resource for ‘advancing safe schools‘.

5.  The GSA isn’t the only LGBTQ resource to ‘recruit’ students and incite activation in LGBTQ issues.  GSLEN is another organization that has made its way onto school campuses.  Over a decade ago now, ROPE found something called “The Day of Silence” in which students pledged to spend the day in silence in solidarity to LGBTQ issues and – before they stopped publishing the list of schools participating – we found many Oklahoma schools were taking part.

GSLEN is an excellent example of how something is made to look ‘supportive’ of students, but has a backstory full of sexually disgusting depravity. 

The founder of GLSEN is Ken Jennings – Obama’s Safe School Czar.  The link over his name will take you to a Mass Resistance page which has documented information about this man, including The Fistgate Conference attended by students as young as 12.

6.  Much has come to light following the Louden County VA rape case in which a ‘transgendered’ boy raped a girl in the girl’s bathroom and the Superintendent covered it up.  Continuing to allow LGBT activism can – and will – only result in further such cases – especially when many schools simply refuse to discipline students anymore. 

7.  Anti transgender activist Walt Heyer, has made a career of warning parents about the evils of transgenderism since receiving treatment as a transgendered woman that allowed him to return to life as a man.  In a Federalist article from this year, Heyer warns parents about the 5 steps used by transgender activists to GROOM children about which he says:

Children are attracted (and groomed) through the influence of their peers, social media, and teachers.

It’s easy to see why a child who hits a rough period emotionally, or feels socially awkward or isolated, would be drawn to identifying as transgender as a means to acceptance and attention.

These school clubs allow LGBTQ ideology to create an ‘affirming’ space where children who need affirmation or want attention, find a place they are welcomed.  In fact, one mother of two transgender children explains it this way:

You get love-bombed online, you get love-bombed on at school, your social status goes up by at least 10 ranks. As soon as you say you’re trans, you turn into a star. And kids are thirsty for that kind of affirmation.

PARENTS: THIS HAS TO STOP, but the only way to stop it is to know exactly what’s going on with your child at every point possible.  Here are some ideas for ways to help you correct this issue in your school.

1:  Find a group of parents who are interested in the issue and are willing to come together to remove LGBTQ clubs and resources from your school.  Working as a united front will help your school administration see you as a force with which to be reckoned.

2:  Confront your school board and continue to confront your school board about the issue until they act.  If you are able to create a group, make sure that each of your members says something about the issue at each board meeting.  Eventually the Board will tire of hearing about it if they are not sensitive to your initial concerns.

3:  Create a social media account and post articles about the fallout the LGBTQ lifestyle causes in children.  Post videos from GSA and GLESN that show how they organize and activate students to  to get attention from parents.

4.  Write opinion pieces in the local paper (if they’ll take them) drawing attention to the issue as a way to create awareness in the community about what is going on in the schools their taxes support.  Remember – angry taxpayers can be great allies!

5.  DON’T GET FRUSTRATED AND QUIT!  I often tell exasperated parents who have tried for an entire school year to make something happen that wouldn’t, that it took us four solid years of work here in Oklahoma to repeal Common Core from state law.  Taking back school districts that have been allowed to flourish into parent-destroying, authoritarian-loving black holes on their own with minimal parent participation aren’t going to turn around in 15 minutes.  But that’s okay.  The victory will be even sweeter once it comes!

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Edmond Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Angela Grunewald’s November 2nd Response To Parents, Is Either Deliberately False, Or Uninformed By Reality

In a post made to the Edmond Public Schools website, Superintendent Dr. Grunewald addressed what she characterized as “negative and sometimes false comments” made by parents at the 11.1.21 Board Meeting.  On the playground we used to say, “It takes one to know one.”  Dr. Grunewald’s response to parents in this missive is either deliberately false, or – worse – uninformed by reality.  Here’s how we know.

I have known Molly Jenkins – like every other ROPE Board Member – for 8-10 years.  She’s tough and smart and like the rest of us, VERY concerned about what is happening to our children in public education.

In the Spring of 2021, she was very troubled by an assignment that was brought to the attention of the EPS Board at a regular Board meeting by a parent who was alerted to the assignment by their child who was completing work online due to COVID.

The class was reading The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian, a book about a native American boy who lives on a reservation, has troubles in school, reads books and draws cartoons. 

Unfortunately, what might be a really interesting book, centers a great deal on the differences between Native Americans and white people from his perspective.  Another book in a long litany of books for young adults that introduce race (or sexuality) as a way of indoctrinating readers into certain worldviews.

In May, after the passage of HB1775 preventing the teaching of Critical Race Theory ideals, Molly – still concerned about the “white vs indian” assignment she’d seen – drove to the EPS Administration building and asked for a meeting with Superintendent Grunewald.  

She wanted to speak with the Superintendent personally to make certain they were going to follow HB1775 after seeing what she felt to be a completely inappropriate narrative.
An appointment was made and on the day she returned for the meeting with Dr. Grunewald, she was interested to find 10-12 copies of a book sitting on a table in her office with the word ‘equity’ in the title.

“That looks like an interesting book,” she remarked to the Superintendent who then suggested she take a copy to read.

During the meeting, Molly shared her CRT concerns with Dr. Grunewald who assured her they were not teaching CRT tenets in Edmond Public Schools.  So, with little further to say after that ‘assurance’, Molly headed home to read the book she was given.

Once home, it took her just about four hours to read the book from cover to cover, she found it so unnerving.  On nearly every page she made notes to herself about what she was reading and how it directly connected to the ideals which derive from CRT – the ones specifically outlawed by HB1775.  

After reading the book, she immediately contacted EPS Administration to make a further appointment with Dr. Grunewald, which was granted.

At that meeting, she explained to the Superintendent what she had found in the book and that she found CRT tenets on nearly every page.

She asked Dr. Grunewald if she had read the book in its entirety and was told NO, BUT SHE HAD SCANNED IT.

Molly asked the Superintendent who she was giving the book to read – since there had been numerous copies on the table.  Dr. Grunewald would NOT give her a clear answer, saying only, “some people around here”.  She felt that the Superintendent was very dismissive with her – almost a “you do you we’ll do us” kind of attitude.

Now, let’s examine Dr. Grunewald’s statement from November 2.

Look at the first bullet point.  Now, look at this:

What Dr. Grunewald said was simply a talking point described by leftist educators to defend against the use of CRT in schools.  In literally means nothing.  It’s a deflection for parents who have done their homework and know better.

Bullet point 2 – no one has said it was a standard.  Another deflection.

Bullet point 3 – this point references the book we’ll discuss in the next frame – “Belonging Through A Culture of Dignity”.

Bullet point 4 – SEL=CRT.  Guest poster Emily Wright (EPS mom of 3) made that abundantly clear in her blog of this week.  You can find that here.  SEL is Social Emotional Learning, another education fad created by a bunch of leftist teachers in order to indoctrinate children.  If you don’t believe me, read this page.  Talk about mumbo-jumbo, word salad – not to mention that children’s EMOTIONS are strictly the territory of PARENTS, not schools.

In this portion of her response, Dr. Grunewald claims she’s read the book “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity”.  Here’s what WalMart said about the book when I went searching for it.

“Once these fundamental human needs are understood, educators can gain clarity of the barriers to meaningful student relationships, especially across dimensions of difference such as race, class and culture…Through their work, the authors aim to equip educators with the tools necessary to deliver the promise of DEMOCRACY through schools by breaking the cycle of equity dysfunction once and for all.”

Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity: The Keys to Successful Equity Implementation Kindle Edition
by Floyd Cobb  (Author), John Krownapple (Author), Brenda CampbellJones (Foreword) 

FULL STOP.  There is so much wrong with those sentences it’s hard to breakdown in a blog, but let me do it by asking some questions: 

  • How did public schools create students OF EVERY COLOR and sex smart enough to put a man on the moon without this tripe?
  • Has anyone looked to see what the National Assessment of Academic Progress scores of Oklahoma students are in Math, Science and Reading?  (I have – they’re dismal and have been for a decade)  Have schools been teaching, or modifying behaviors?
  • If you specifically hone in on race, class and culture do you make disparities clearer to children or less clear?
  • Since when are schools a DEMOCRACY?
  • Who says there is a “cycle of equity dysfunction” except for the people like Dr. Becky Bailey who stand to make a KILLING on all the stuff she sells to promote ‘dignity’ through SEL programming?  Is this about money or the welfare of kids?

Molly read the entire book.  Here are some of the most horrifying nuggets from the book:

Pg 42: “Schools routinely offer our students on the margins (e.g., impoverished and minoritized) inferior academic experience to students of affluence and cultural dominance. – Nor did it require educators to prioritize a sense of belonging for students racialized as Black (or otherwise) who were displaced and had to leave the safety and belonging of home schools and move into often unwelcoming school cultures that were exclusively White.  Thus a “belonging gap” emerged within racially integrated schools. (Hilariously, ‘bussing’ was created by liberals believing that black students couldn’t possibly get a good education in black schools – a racist notion in and of itself – so they moved them from their homes into white areas to get equal access to education excellence.  Yet another one of the ‘liberals screw it up and screw it up worse trying to fix their original screw up’ because they simply have to find fault with something all the time.)

Pg 62:  The whole page is filled with racist nonsense, but here are a few examples:  “To redress inequity and create a socially just system of education, ensuring access is not enough For educational equity, access and belonging are both vital”.  “Historically marginalized identity groups are most vulnerable to the stereotype threat and belonging uncertainty when aspiring to achieve in the dominant culture.”

pg 76:  “Perhaps the concept of race (being White, more specifically) is the most prominent example of social exclusion and belonging in US history.”

pg 77:  “Whiteness, as Joe Feagin (2013) argues, is more definitely characterized as the absolute right to exclude and, ultimately the entitlement to determine who belongs.”  “Entitlement has determined, among other things, where groups of people can live or work, whether or not they have basic rights (e.g., voting, health care), and what type of social activities and relationships they can have with whom (e.g. marriage).  In 2018 and 2019, the hashtag #LivingWhileBlack went viral on social media, documenting racial exclusivity  Droves of videos show White Americans calling the police on everyday people – Black, Latinx, Muslim, Americans – going about their lives (without markers of Whiteness in places where they are perceived not to belong: Starbucks, swimming pools, golf courses, fitness centers, sidewalks, parks, picnic tables, libraries, college campus tours, and more.  To this day, the markers of race often determine the extent to which people feel they belong in any given environment.”

Look up HB1775 and then compare that to these book excerpts.  Everything here DEFIES letters a, b, f, g and h of that bill, causing the book – and Dr. Grunewald by pushing it – to violate HB1775.

Now let’s look at her next statement:

Once again, we find that Grunewald has little to say but echoing the talking points of others in the public education cabal.

Apparently, she just surfed the internet and came up with the definition the rest of the sheep use.

And now, how about the concept that we must ‘heal the child before we can educate the child’?  That’s a concept that’s been pushed since John Dewey wanted to take control of society by getting between parent and child since parent wouldn’t necessarily bring the child up to be a democratic socialist the way he envisioned children should be brought up.  (Read more about Dewey in “John Dewey & the Decline of American Education: How The Patron Saint of Schools Has Corrupted Teaching & Learning” – It was VERY enlightening about why public education is the way it is.)

Now look at her last bullet point.

So they’ve increased the number of counselors.  Why?  Because the state Department of Education gave schools money to hire counselors – $35 million dollars in ESSR funds to be exact – because, well, COVID.  Schools pay half – the state pays half – everyone’s happy.  Except that the “School Counselor Corps” as they are being called, apparently come mainly from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) – an organization that says:

School counselors work toward cultural competence and engage in anti-racist actions by advocating to change racist policies, procedures, practices, guidelines and laws contributing to inequities in students’ academic, career and social/emotional development

American School Counselors Association

You can see more about the ASCA here.  The ASCA also pushes SEL, driving more CRT tenets into children through counseling and data-collection surveys (from the company owned by the husband of the daughter of Merrick Garland, the federal Attorney General who told the FBI to investigate parents at school board meetings – oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.)

So, yet again, Superintendent Grunewald seems to literally be falsifying information or have no idea what she’s reading, what she’s saying or what goes on in her own schools.

Clearly EPS is saturated with SEL and clearly, SEL is the pipeline for CRT pushed by counseling services and Dr. Grunewald herself through “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity”.

In closing, Dr. Grunewald is doing little more than many Superintendents do anymore when confronted by parents who actually care – they are either outright lying, or are too soaked in their own indoctrination to understand what they’re doing to our kids.

This is another excellent reason why SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS ARE PARAMOUNT.  School boards can literally get rid of these kinds of Superintendents and hire ones that actually care about kids, not merely pushing what the education cabal wants pushed on kids.

GET INVOLVED IN SCHOOL BOARDS AND SCHOOL BOARD RACES IN YOUR DISTRICT TODAY!

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Parents, Books Like “The Glass Castles” – And Worse – Have Been In Public Schools For Years – We Need To Get Them Out Now

I have to say, I’m more than mildly happy to read that parents have finally discovered the disgusting books being foisted upon their children in public schools and metropolitan libraries all across the nation – including Oklahoma – yes, “of all places” – but I have to say, I’m more than mildly frustrated that we’ve been trying to alert parents to this phenomena for over 10 years and not gotten much traction.  

So, parents, please know; this is a trend that started years ago and is quickly getting progressively worse.  There’s really no choice but to stop it NOW!

Those of you who have been followers know my story, but for those who don’t, suffice it to say that putting my kids into a nice public elementary in the nice neighborhood where I grew up as a kid, didn’t go the way I planned.  You can read about some of our adventures here, here and here that led me to homeschooling three kids through high school with one still in high school left to go.

I didn’t begin parent life with the notion that I would be spending 24/7 with four kids, but that’s how life turned out and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Neither did I have any idea that I’d become an education researcher and activist, but putting my kids into public school sent me down that road, leading me to many, many days where I homeschooled with one hand while researching and writing a blog with the other.  After seeing what I’d seen in our “Blue Ribbon” elementary in a nice, well-to-do neighborhood, I knew I HAD to wake up parents to either make their schools start educating their kids or get them to take them out!

Throughout our homeschool years, I’d take the kids to Half Price Books.  They offer a 10% discount for homeschoolers/educators, plus, it’s always a great place to find any kind of reading material.  

Unfortunately, my second-oldest daughter, Barbara, always seemed to pick out the most awful books every time we went – they had no compelling story line, there was nothing edifying or uplifting in them and they all seemed to be about vapid boy/girl relationships.  I wouldn’t let her read them and we’d usually have some kind of argument, but my point always has been; why spend time reading something that doesn’t elevate you either mentally or spiritually, or teach you something you didn’t know?

She had been telling me she wanted to read some Judy Blume books – and I had heard they were fine – so one day while we were at Half Price Books, she pulled out several Judy Blume books to look through. One of them was a paperback called, “Forever“.  It was used and without a cover for research so I skimmed several pages. 

Unfortunately, I involuntarily screamed aloud (Barbara nearly died of embarrassment because people actually looked at us) when I reached a page with such sexually explicit detail that there was no way to refer to it but as pornographic!

Immediately I approached the young girl working close to us, held out the book and reported that it was NOT material for young teens.  I then asked her to remove it from the Teen section.  She shrugged affably, but seemingly uninterested so I thrust at her the page that had caused me to scream.  Surprisingly, even this young, pierced and tattooed girl gasped and promised to immediately remove the book to the adult section where it would be away from young girls.

Not long after that incident really, I got an email from a member of our (previous board) telling me that one of her friends was really mad about the reading list in Edmond Public Schools, and asking if she could put her in touch with me.

After meeting with the mom, I wrote, “One Mad Momma Takes On Edmond School Board Over Sexually Explicit Books Assigned to Sophomores“, published in 2014.  Today it has 9000 reads and 16 comments.  I urge you to read them.  It’s readily obvious someone read the blog and hit social media with a post about it claiming we were trying to “ban” books.  Trust me when I say, leftists use the ‘straw man’ argument constantly and this was a perfect example.  No one suggested the books should be banned, just not offered as class reading material to sophomores in high school, but that doesn’t matter.  Leftists love to call names if for no other reason than it completely stops conversation on the topic.  If someone is labeled a “BOOK CENSOR”, discussion stops in exactly the same way it does when you’re labeled a ‘racist’.

I didn’t use that blog to point to specific passages in the book, but because there was so much whining and crying about the blog and the poor mom’s (very brave) decision to speak out on the topic, I ran another blog copying and pasting actual passages from the book, “Complaints About Sexually Inappropriate High School Reading Material Part 2 – Garbage In – Garbage Out“.

Interestingly, THIS blog only got 889 views and only 4 comments, one of which was mine in response to leftist education political organizer Claudia Swisher, who – of course – called the mother and I “book banners” and “disingenuous” for ‘cherry-picking’ passages – because explicitly detailing everything in a sex scene needs context, right? <<insert rolled eyes emoji>>

So as not to relive the entire post here, check out the blog for the x-rated ‘cherry picked’ passages that made me a “disingenuous book banner”.

Not long after that, I received an email from a friend, Macey France, in Oregon who had found Tony Morrison’s, “The Bluest Eye” on the Common Core reading list.  A blogger herself, she quoted portions of the book – including the unbelievably explicit child rape scene – in her blog and then linked it to the CC reading list, earning her a virtual firestorm of name-calling and derision from the Left all across the internet.

With everything in my blogs echoing what Macey was saying about the Common Core reading list and “The Bluest Eye”, I decided to pitch an article to my longtime editor Joy Pullman at the Federalist about the smutty books kids were being fed in public school through the eyes of the parents that were objecting to them – in 2014!

That article was my first for the Federalist, has been read thousands of times and is still – sadly – very timely today.  I urge you to stop and read the whole piece because it explains very well WHY sexually explicit literature is not appropriate for K-12 students.  There are reasons other than, “I just don’t want my kid reading that”.

But, I digress a bit.  This is the article I wrote on our old website back in 2011 archived through the Way Back Machine (btw – support them so we don’t end up like 1984!)  I recounted the story about Barbara, but here’s the IMPORTANT part.  My Co-Founder, Julie McKenzie had gone out to the Norman High School Library website and pulled down the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA – which appears not to be a serviceable organization any longer) 2009 Best Books For Young Adults, copied the books and their descriptions and pasted them in the document.  You can see all of them at the link, but let’s pull out a few here:

  • Geerling, Marjetta. Fancy White Trash. Penguin/Viking. 2008. 978-0-670-01082-0 $16.9  Abby Savage is determined not to be like her mother and sisters-each became pregnant as teens-but her only confidant is Cody who has his own sexual issues.
  • Harmon, Michael. The Last Exit to Normal. Alfred A.Knopf. 2008. 978-0-375-94098-9 $18.99 To get him on the right track, Ben Campbell’s dad and stepdad accompany him to Montana, where he encounters small town life, homophobia, an abused boy, and a special girl.
  • Scott, Elizabeth. Living Dead Girl. Simon and Schuster/Simon Pulse. 2008. 978-1-4169-6059-1 $16.99  Abducted at the age of ten, Alice has lived as a live-in rape victim for Ray for 5 years until he informs her that she’s “too old” for his love.

Okay, that’s enough, you get the idea.  Sincerely?  How many of you want your kids reading ANY of those?  This was 2010!  

WHERE HAVE PARENTS BEEN?

You think The Glass Castles is bad, try the new and improved Sequoyah Reading List for 2022, which you can conveniently find through the Oklahoma Library Association portal (with the convenient URL of OKLIBS).

We’ll tackle that in the next post – What Does The Library Want Your Child Reading?  Shouldn’t You Know?  

The last in the series will be, What To Do About Inappropriate Books in Your Public Libraries to give you a method to clean up your public reading spaces.

In the meantime, check out “Molly’s X-Rated Reading Room” on our website where ROPE Board member Molly Jenkins and our friend Andrea Crouch take on the inappropriate and awful books for kids in public school and the public library!  Sign up to be alerted of their posts, so you don’t miss one!

Jenni White

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GUEST POST: Dear Dr. Grunewald, If You Think You’re Not Allowing The Teaching of CRT, What Do You Call Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

This is a guest post by an Edmond Public Schools (central Oklahoma) parent with three children in elementary grades.

Dear Dr. Grunewald,

Three of my children have attended Heritage Elementary school for 2 years and have had a wonderful experience. The teachers, counselors and administrators are amazing! 

I met with Mrs. Frank and the counseling staff on November 4 to discuss my children’s participation in the SEAL classes. I inquired about the curriculum and themes/topics covered in the sessions.

The curriculum being used is Conscious Discipline. The counselors at Heritage write their own lessons based on this curriculum. 

I was slightly familiar with Conscious Discipline since it was used at Clyde Howell where my oldest child attended pre-k, 8 years ago. I borrowed a book from the teacher and found it to be comparable to Love and Logic. These I feel were wonderful programs for elementary kids. However, upon returning home I decided to visit the Conscious Discipline website.

I was quite shocked at the description that popped up before clicking on the site link: Home – Social and Emotional Learning It reads: “Conscious Discipline believes that trauma-responsive social and emotional learning (SEL) is a lens through which transformational change in the areas of racial equality, equity and inclusion is not only possible but essential.” 

This sounds like a CRT, social justice, whatever you want to call it, platitude to me. A political indoctrination program for kids.

CRT is not just a legal theory taught at the college level. CRT is a movement, a conduit of identity politics which promotes the analysis of many aspects of society through the prism of racism and Marxist victim-hood mentality (oppressor vs. oppressed). 

It’s clear to me that CRT has been repackaged and renamed SEL. 

On the Conscious Discipline’s home page I also found the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) seal indicating that Conscious discipline has the CASEL SELect Program Designation. 

Until recently CASEL downplayed the leftist political bent of SEL, however CASEL CEO, Karen Niemi, announced in December 2020 that her company “has revised its definition of and framework for ‘socio-emotional learning’ to highlight the value of SEL as a weapon for social justice.” 

Karen Niemi. “We know from research that attention to students’ holistic learning and development can promote high-quality educational opportunities and outcomes for all children across race, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation and other differences.

Importantly, SEL has potential to promote the academic, social and emotional development of all children. SEL can also help adults and students co-create more equitable schools and communities.

While SEL alone will not solve the deep-seated inequities in the education system, it can help adults and students build more meaningful relationships and develop knowledge, skills and mindsets to interrupt inequitable policies and practices, create more inclusive learning environments and nurture the interests and assets of all individuals.

CASEL will work alongside researchers, educators and policymakers to address issues of identity, agency and belonging that are fundamental to human development” 

This is obviously a CRT/SEL school curriculum publisher’s clearinghouse. The NoVo Foundation is a funding partner of CASEL. NoVo focuses heavily on abortion rights, LGBT interests and left-wing economics. 

CASEL is basically a political lobbyist group promoting SEL programs in schools and in the workplace.

Here is just a sample of more articles and/or statements that raised CRT red flags from the Consciousness Discipline website: Conscious Discipline – CASEL Program Guide – This is the curriculum description “Strategies supporting educational equity””Conscious Discipline offers strategies for working with bias. This includes training for adults to examine bias and understand how it creates barriers to authentically connecting with students, assessing students SEL needs, and responding to conflict constructively and impartially. “Supporting Racial Equity: Essential Next Steps for Conscious Discipline – The screenshot below captures what Dr. Becky Bailey said on July 29, 2020:

SEL as a Lever for Equity: 5-Part Webinar Series from CASEL – Posted on August 11, 2020 by Conscious Discipline:

“Conscious Discipline believes that trauma-responsive social and emotional learning (SEL) is a lens through which transformational change in the areas of racial equality, equity and inclusion is not only possible, but essential.” (See more in the screenshot below)

“However, Conscious Discipline recognizes that SEL alone isn’t enough to resolve longstanding inequities. We must directly promote equity, listen and learn from one another, and have conversations that feel challenging or uncomfortable.”

I guess “conversations that feel challenging or uncomfortable” means showing my kids Raising Antiracist Kids: 9 Steps from Ibram X. Kendi – the guy who thinks my kids are racist because they have white skin – but here he is promoted by Conscious Discipline.


Dr. Grunewald, does CASEL’s revised definition of and framework for SEL align with our SEAL program? 

How do you ensure EPS SEAL curriculums are not promoting the tenets of HB 1775?

You said in your response to the public comments made at the November 1 meeting and Wednesday night on News 9 that EPS does not teach CRT and is only taught in law schools. CRT has invaded all sectors of academia, including education. 

I beg to differ and I now believe Consciousness Discipline to be rooted in CRT. 

How is EPS using this – or any other CASEL-approved program or curriculum – NOT violating HB 1775?

The EPS website does not have any information regarding SEAL curriculum. While trying to find out what curriculum was being used SEAL, I came across a June 22, 2020 write-up:​ Sunset Counselor Wins Award and $10,000 Prize – Edmond Public Schools. The article states:”Ms. Bointy” has been a pioneer in using the Sanford Harmony social and emotional learning program.”At the end of the article, it states:”Sanford Harmony has been recognized by CASEL as a quality program.”I did some digging around on the Harmony page and clicked on the Research tab at the very top of the page.

I learned “Students participating in Harmony reported significantly more diverse friends than did those from control groups. Furthermore, these peer influences were related to improved writing and math performance in classrooms using Harmony, but not in control classrooms.”(DeLay, et al., 2016). 

Why is an SEL program concerned about collecting data on students and their friends? 

From the Harmony-Inspire Rebuilding Communities Tool-Kit page 9, titled: “How can we foster diversity and inclusion in our communities and support many students who have seen and experienced unrest and inequity?”Item 2 says:”Support students in developing their critical thinking skills and forming inclusive attitudes by providing students the tools to identify and reject stereotypes and seek friendships with a diverse group of peers. These skills help them be advocates for themselves and their families, peers, and community members now and in the future. Explore developmentally appropriate critical thinking skills about stereotypes and developing empathy for other points of view in the “Pop that Stereotype” activity.”

Is Ms. Bointy still teaching this CRT-laced program? If so, she and EPS are violating HB 1775.
The U.S. Department of Education has been pushing schools by providing funding and training in physiological, attitudinal and behavioral standards (SEL) for years. ESSER funding can be and are being used by EPS to purchase more SEL curriculum – ostensibly to curb ‘learning loss’. 
How does SEL address learning loss? I think more academic subjects should be taught to address that issue instead – art class for all elementary students, handwriting, spelling or more of the core subjects. 

Who decides what attitudes, mindsets, values and beliefs should be taught and promoted to a child? You? The government? 

No. We the parents do. There is subjectivity among adults who develop SEL curriculum that reflects their attitudes, mindsets, values and beliefs that is then taught to a class which is a group. 

SEL/CRT is pushing collective values over individual values. Impressionable elementary children and children undergoing puberty with incomplete pre-frontal cortexes are being influenced to act or think how a group or teacher or school district says or does in order to belong or be “canceled” by the group if they have a different viewpoint. Does a school have any business defining these competencies and teaching them? No. 

Why is teaching Great Expectations not enough SEL for Edmond Public School students? 

I don’t want someone else deciding who my children are – I want my children to develop their own sense of self.

Sincerely,

Emily Wright

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Oklahoma Republican Legislators Enacted President Obama’s Education Agenda During 2010 Creating Many Of The Problems We’re Seeing In Public Education TODAY

As a pre-Halloween trick, this article was released in the Tulsa World – Teacher shortage milestone: New record set for nonaccredited teachers given emergency certification in Oklahoma.

I urge you to read the article – it’s short – but even if you only have time to scan it, read the section that says;

A decade ago, applications for emergency certifications used to be a rarity, with just 32 emergency teaching certificates approved in 2011-12.  But as Oklahoma plunged into a statewide teacher shortage, school districts became increasingly reliant on underqualified new hires who had not yet completed the state’s requirements for either traditional or alternative certification. The numbers have increased annually since 2012, save for a one-year dip last year to 2,801.

Okay. This clearly says that until the 2011/2012 school year, there were only about 35 emergency certifications provided by the OSDE. So what happened in 2010 in Oklahoma?

Well, if you don’t know, I can certainly tell you because I wrote about it and studied it furtively and constantly for five years.

In 2010, House and Senate Republicans along with Governor Mary Fallin ushered into Oklahoma law, The FOUR PILLARS OF THE OBAMA EDUCATION AGENDA – Common Core, State Longitudinal Database, Teacher Accountability Measures and Turning Around Underperforming Schools – through an ENORMOUS omnibus bill – SB2033 – made possible by former Democrat Governor Brad Henry’s acceptance of State Stabilization Funds (SSF).

Why in the world would Oklahoma Republicans sign on to law created by a Democratic President with Marxist tendencies?

Because it would result in an ability to receive federal funds to implement something called “Race To The Top“, President Obama’s education initiative. And later, because Congress refused to re-authorize the billion page law called the ESSA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) which President George Bush renamed the “No Child Left Behind Act” (NCLB), President Obama came up with a scheme to provide states with even more money – I mean “flexibility” – not to have to have students meet the NCLB requirement of 100% proficiency in math and reading by 2014. And guess what? Then State Superintendent Janet Barresi applied for and got those funds as well.

Unfortunately, those ALSO required the state to develop all four pillars of Obama’s education reforms.

In 2011, former colleague Lynn Habluetzel and I sat down for 2 days to come up with a map that would show as many of the players in the Obama money scheme that our Republican elected officials had bought into. Here’s what we came up with.

It went viral. You can actually internet search this thing because people were so disgusted by it. Why? Because every group on this ‘map’ exerts some kind of control over YOUR DISTRICT SCHOOL in some way. That’s what federal funds do. They tie states to FEDERAL programs whether they’re good for the state or not.

Now, let’s mosey on up to 2014 and add on to all you see above with the “Dear Colleague Letter” penned by Obama which basically told schools that they could be brought up on Civil Rights charges for disciplining black students.

The consequences of the aforementioned 4 pillars is HUGE, but the latter is the worst of all. Ask ANY teacher why they’re quitting and DISCIPLINE ISSUES are in the top two.
Schools do what they’re told by the federal government so they can get federal government money (this is why they DON’T respond to parents – parents don’t have the money carrot there to make it worth it for them in their world view of ‘kids deserve schools with more money’ whatever that means).

Look at mask mandates if you simply can’t believe me. Ask teachers the next reason they’re leaving and they’ll tell you PAPERWORK.

There’s all this data to collect on each student, there’s SEL which is used to conduct Climate Surveys and grading teachers all for the School Grade card that allows schools to get their ESSA money. (More info on school grade cards)

JUST STOP IT.

If you really want to know what’s causing the teacher shortage, it’s the results of the OBAMA-DIRECTED EDUCATIONAL GARBAGE INFLICTED UPON THIS STATE BY REPUBLICAN ELECTED OFFICIALS. Look no further. Schools got what they wanted – their Obama grants and ESSA money – so stop your griping already. You’re just reaping what you’ve sown!

Here’s the thing: I’m convinced that school officials are one of two things – ignorant of everything I’ve just outlined and documented (like the Board member at the teacher termination hearing last night who didn’t know what her job was) – or they know exactly what goes on and know it’s in their best interest to keep parents as far away from making them accountable for it as possible.

Parents, let’s quit letting the latter category think we’re simpletons who can only do Common Core math (2+2=5). TAKE BACK YOUR SCHOOL BOARDS. It’s the only way to make the madness stop and for schools to once again be accountable to student learning and the will and wishes of parents.

Jenni White – Education Director

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