by Eric Lendrum
As backlash grows against so-called “diversity” programs in public schools, some districts throughout the country have been canceling plans to implement such programs.
According to ABC News, one such program was in Colorado Springs School District 11, a district that serves over 26,000 students. In May of 2020, shortly after the accidental fentanyl overdose death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, the district was among the first in the nation to push for an “equity policy.”
The board at the time unanimously approved the policy, which was to be crafted and led by the district’s Equity Director Alexis Knox-Miller. The policy would, among other things, force students to learn about “the impact of systemic inequities on teaching and learning.”
But in December of 2021, Knox-Miller announced that the policy would be abandoned after the most recent school board election saw conservative candidates take the majority, with most of them running on a platform of opposition to any such “diversity” measures.
Another district that saw a similar cancellation was Pennridge, Pennsylvania. After the district attempted to create its own “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiative, five Republican candidates were elected to the board in November, creating a new majority that opposed any such measures. One of the candidates who was defeated, Adrienne King (D-Penn.), was one of the chief architects of the plan.
In Southlake, Texas, the Carroll Independent School District saw a conservative majority take the board in the most recent elections, and subsequently repealed previous plans to implement a “cultural competency action plan.” The new majority also disbanded the district’s “diversity council.”
These and other developments reflecting a growing trend in American politics regarding any such “diversity” measures in public schools, most of which can be traced back to the far-left concept of “Critical Race Theory:” The notion that all White people are automatically racist, and that America is an inherently racist nation. Although these ideas have been taught in public schools for many years, they only recently came to broader attention through remote learning that was implemented during the Coronavirus pandemic, with more parents finally realizing what their students were being taught in schools.
The backlash led to widespread protests at school board meetings all over the country, a grassroots movement that soon transformed into political action with many anti-CRT candidates running nationwide. These issues focusing on education are widely seen as the main reason for the Republican wave that swept the Commonwealth of Virginia in last November’s elections, with Republicans taking all three of the state’s executive offices and reclaiming a majority in the House of Delegates.
– – –
Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22). He is currently a co-host of The Right Take podcast.
Photo “Colorado Springs School District 11” by Colorado Springs School District 11.
