CNBNews Exclusive:Is the Critical Race Theory Being Taught in Gloucester City Schools? What is the District's Transgender Policy?
Is the Critical Race Theory Being Taught in Gloucester City Schools? What is the District's Transgender Policy?
Friday, August 20, 2021
UPDATED:
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GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (August 20, 2021)--Jack Ciattarelli the NJ Republican candidate for Governor wrote an Op-Ed article in the Bergen Record about the public-school curriculum changing. Ciattarelli said, "In my travels, one issue that comes up repeatedly with parents — Democrats, Republicans and
Independents alike — are the changes to the public-school curriculum pushed by Gov. Phil Murphy. Changes that now require kindergarteners to learn about gender identification and sexual orientation and middle school kids to know about vaginal, anal and oral sex."
"Parents aren’t just concerned and frustrated. They’re also angry about an infringement of their rights as parents to educate their children about life’s most personal topics and then being shamed when they dare speak up," said Ciattarelli.
The link to his statement is here
Also in the news recently was the story about a Rhode Island mom, Nicole Solas, who was sued by the
National Education Association (NEA)Teachers Union for asking what her daughter would be taught in kindergarten.
“This brazen and unprecedented act of intimidation by the NEA will not stand,” said Jon Riches, Director of National Litigation at the Goldwater Institute, who is representing Solas. “Nicole Solas is entitled to know what her daughter’s school is teaching in the classroom. She’s entitled to ask questions. And she does not deserve to face legal action just for asking questions any concerned parent would ask.”
"Like many parents, Nicole was concerned about whether her daughter would be exposed to the politically charged curriculum in the classroom. So in April, Nicole emailed the principal of her school in the South Kingstown School District asking for the kindergarten curriculum—and whether it would include teaching children politically charged materials, including those influenced by Critical Race Theory and gender theory, holding them out to be true. She immediately faced stonewalling from the school and even a threat of legal action for asking too many questions. Ultimately, Nicole received a bill for $74,000 to fulfill a public record request filed by the Goldwater Institute on her behalf in July," said Riches.
The link to that article is here
Both stories pique our curiosity. Is the Critical Race Theory being taught in the Gloucester City Public School system? If so what are the topics in the lesson plan? What is the Board of Education's transgender policy? Are those students being given special treatment? And, if so what are those accommodations?
What about those kindergarten kids (age 5) enrolled in the Gloucester City School District, are they being taught about gender identification and sexual orientation, and are Gloucester City Middle School kids (ages 10-13) being taught about vaginal, anal and oral sex?
Decades ago, before the so-called Open Public Records Act (OPRA) was passed by the NJ Legislature a reporter would just pick up the phone and ask the person in charge those questions. Most times the reporter would have their answer before the end of the day. And, if you needed further explanation the Board Secretary or Municipal Clerk would happily answer your questions until you were satisfied.
It is not that way today. The OPRA law requires the reporter or taxpayer to put their question(s) in writing. If the question is not worded according to OPRA stipulations your inquiry is denied. The Custodian of Records as these individuals are called have seven working days to answer your inquiry. The law allows the Custodian of Records to ask for an extension, and the request is normally granted.
On August 11 we submitted a four-page OPRA request about the Critical Race Theory and the District's Transgender Policy. We requested the lesson plans or course materials used or assigned at any school within the Gloucester City School District in the 2020-2021 school year that included any of the following terms:
a. “1619 Project”
b. “Zinn Education Project” or “Howard Zinn”
c. “Equitable Math”c. “Gender theory”
d. “White privilege” or “whiteness”
e “Systemic racism”
f. “CRT” or “Critical Race Theory”
g. “Ibram Kendi” or “Kendi”
h. “Robin DiAngelo” or “DiAngelo”
i. Transgender
In answer to our inquiry, we received two policies. In the first document, labeled the 2422 Policy Health Education the wording used contained many ambiguous terms along with references to numerous state education statutes. The 5756 Transgender Policy was easier to understand. It should be noted that the words Critical Race Theory are not mentioned in either policy.
RELATED:
NJ School Board Association: Regarding Educational Equity and Critical Race Theory
WHAT IS THE CRITICAL RACE THEORY?
Do a Google search for 'What is the Critical Race Theory and you will find 300 million articles on the topic. Each with a different definition for the term depending on whether the site is conservative or liberal.
Some of the basic tenets of CRT rest on the belief that racism is a fundamental part of American society, not simply an aberration that can be easily corrected by law; that any given culture constructs its own social reality in its own self-interest, and in the United States this means that minorities’ interests are subservient to the system’s self-interest; and that the current system, built by and for white elites, will tolerate and encourage racial progress for minorities only if this promotes the majority’s self-interest. ~the First Amendment Encyclopedia
EXPLAIN THE CRITICAL RACE THEORY-Critical race theory is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism. Scholars developed it during the 1970s and 1980s in response to what they viewed as a lack of racial progress following the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. It centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society.AP NEWS
For some strange reason the advocates of the CRT policy never mention Barack Obama, a black man, who was elected twice to the presidency of the United States. And, in the most recent presidential election, a woman of color was elected as vice-president. In the minds of most people that in itself proves that racism is not as prevalent in America as some people would have you believe.
We are publishing the two policies that the School District's Custodian of Records provided to CNBNews as the answers to our questions.
After you read the information below let us know your thoughts. Also, please let us know if this is the first time you saw either one of these policies?
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RELATED
NJ School Board Association: Regarding Educational Equity and Critical Race Theory
RELATED
NJ School Board Association: Regarding Educational Equity and Critical Race Theory