By: Diane Benjamin
If you haven’t browsed Unit 5’s website, you missed this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cPB0fnxfB3G2Dwp8Cyzawy5_bPej-A-C/view
That is an update to their Equity Action Plan. See PDF pages 5 and 6 for what they want to achieve. This paragraph bothers me:
The purpose of public schools is to teach. Students should never know the “authentic self” of those teaching them. If you have experience with teenage girls, you know their “authentic self” can be different everyday. Unit 5 shouldn’t be promoting any “authentic self”, their job is teaching.
I filed a FOIA request based on this paragraph on PDF page 12:
The Unit 5 lawyer claimed the 4 training sessions weren’t recorded! Anybody believe that?
Screen shots were included to two opening videos they did record, I should have access to those videos. I don’t. I had to request it, still waiting. The title of the first one is Understanding Identity. The second is Navigating Identity.
They did hire 47 people:
Cheryl Springwood, Kimberly Johnson, Kris Pennington, Megan Bozarth, Maggie Lakebrink, Ryan Kerr, Emily Casterjon, Robin Spaid, Chris McGraw, Nate Bostic, Jane Collins, Paula Collins, Dustin Underwood, Jen Hamler, Osha Green, Cami Williams, Ashleigh Gibler, Sharon Collins-Brock, Maria Gomez-Banks, Valerie Ambrose, Dennis Larson, Erin Dobson, Bryan Thomas, Rocio Fisher, Isoke Wilson-Pridgen, John Hughs, LaTishia Baker, Julie Cunningham, Sylvester Davis, Rachel Evans, Jason Klokkenga, Kim Wilson, Matt Harr, Rebecca Spears, Latrice Samuels, Alyssa Swanson, Holly Cox, Liz Tomera, Kiki Keeney, Tina Fogal, Karrah Jensen, Kim Priller, Len Childers, Monique Hall, Jessica Woodall, Scott Vogel, Monica Wilks
Instead of just telling me how much they got paid, I was told Pay Rate 4 with a link to the union contract. That didn’t help. https://ufea.org/contract/#article-9
I believe this training was funded with ESSER Funds given to schools to address the effects of COVID. ESSER Funds were meant to address learning loss and mitigation efforts.
I would ask more questions but I know other groups are looking at how ESSER Funds were spent. Besides, I wouldn’t get a straight answer from Unit 5 anyway.
Have I mentioned lately you need to get your kids out of public schools?
Where your children go to school shouldn’t be assigned by zip code.
Start demanding school choice, schools would be better overnight when they have to compete for students.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I have to hope that this person isn’t a follower of BLM Marxism but I wonder if she knows that the principles she does believe in parallel the Marxist ideology to divide communities and pit them against each other.
1. Establish an “identity” – in this new Marxism as established by BLM, it is skin color or sexual orientation and other “identities.”
2. Assign a power value to each identity. Defined in the Unit 5 Equity Assessment here – Intersectionality: The intersecting of marginalized identities. Such identities include one or more intersections of race/ethnicity, gender/gender identity, sexuality, ability, socio-economic status, language, age, national origin, religion/non-religious affiliation, physical attributes, education attainment and family status.
3. See through the “lens of equity” – which means discriminate based on identity favoring certain attributes like skin color or sexual orientation.
I agree Diane, ESSER funds were set up by Illinois to be used to promote Equity, Inclusion and Diversity as much or more than for anything else. I am sure that Dr. Kristal Shelvin, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion can bill just about anything she wants to do to the Federal Tax Payer Fund
This is Illinois document that describes how the funds can be used.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:10a9fe56-6641-3546-9488-a1b4141ada19
I talked to a neighbor’s high school son the other day. A sophomore at Normal West. The good news is that the kids all know this is utter BS, according to him, and they scam it for all it’s worth and play along for the grades. They also believe any adult interested in their “authentic self” (i.e., their sexuality) is weird and perverted. As it should be.
JMG – That’s good to know! I think that there are some number of kids who will believe anything their teachers tell them. Like communism or socialism is actually good, it just needs another chance, Abe Lincoln was a white supremacist, and things like that.
But like so much today, the hair on fire progressives (adults and kids) scream loudly and the mediacrats cheer them on until everyone gets tired of them. I hope. We’ll see this November.
There is an election coming up on Tuesday June 28th. PLEASE put this date on your calendar and be sure to get to the polls and vote. Please tell friends, family, and neighbors to also get to the polls and vote. Thank you.