by Ailan Evans
Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, is donating over $130 million to an organization that advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles to be taught in schools, Communities In Schools announced Thursday.
Communities In Schools, a national organization working to support student access to education and resources, announced the $133.5 million donation from Scott on Thursday. The investment is reportedly intended to broaden the efforts of the organization and expand its mission in schools across the country.
“This unrestricted gift allows us to combat the inequities in public education and reimagine the way schools operate and show up for all students,” Rey Saldaña, president and CEO of Communities In Schools, said in the announcement. “Our national goal is to bring our model inside of every one of the 70,000 Title I-eligible schools in the country; currently, we operate in 3,000 schools – so we still have a long way to go, and we will need ongoing support to get there.”
While Communities In Schools works to increase access to education for poor and underprivileged youth, the group also pushes for DEI training in school classrooms and has defended the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The group’s DEI resource guide instructs employees and affiliates on how to promote DEI principles.
One article in the guide, titled “How To Stop The Racist In You,” suggests individuals are born with inherent prejudices against other races and recommends they “consciously commit [themselves] to egalitarianism.”
The resource guide’s subsection titled “Programming and practices to train student leaders in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion” includes a series of articles providing “step-by-step instructions for facilitators to lead groups of young people in understanding the history of structural racism and how it operates today.” Another subsection called “Icebreakers and activities with a focused diversity, equity, and inclusion lens for children, youth, and families” includes a speech from Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael titled “Black Power” and other resources intended to teach children social justice and DEI principles.
The guide also links to an article explaining how to begin conversations with students about systemic racism, and it includes several resources providing information on how to teach concepts of racial justice.
Communities In Schools has issued statements expressing its opposition to legislation and orders intended to address CRT in the classroom and the federal government. The organization opposed former President Donald Trump’s executive order in September 2020 ending CRT trainings in the federal government.
“We have included in our strategies, ingrained in our culture, and reflected in our behaviors, principles and practices of diversity, equity and inclusion,” Saldana said in a statement at the time, adding that the order “attempts to discredit the existence of systemic racism that is embedded in major institutions in our country, including public education.”
Communities In Schools also opposed efforts across the U.S. to prevent critical race theory from being taught in schools, defending the practice as challenging “everyone’s role in acknowledging that racism exists and asks what they are doing to help eliminate it.”
“We feel compelled to raise our voice in support of the effective teaching and practices of anti-racism in our nation’s schools,” Saldana said in a June 2021 statement.
Communities In Schools did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Ailan Evans is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “MacKenzie Scott” by MacKenzie Scott.
