How to Identify Critical Race Theory in Private Schools – Part 4

Note: the author of this 4-part series on identifying CRT in private schools is an anonymous mother of 2 children who attend private school in the southeast.

It seems like every institution writes a blog these days.  Including independent schools.  Checking out their blogs is an excellent way to see what has been happening at the school, what accomplishments they are proud of and sometimes just the general musings of the Head of School.  While reading every single blog post is a bit extreme, scanning some of the posts for certain buzz words can help you gauge how much Critical Race Theory is being pushed.  These words include, but are not limited to:

• Social emotional learning
• Ally/allyship
• Equity
• Cultural competencies/culturally responsive teaching
• Activism
• Social Justice

When the media claims that CRT is not taught in schools, they are right—there is no course titled Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools.  Instead, the CRT ideology is presented under the guise of equity and taught in the curriculum under Social-emotional learning, cultural competencies and Ally/Allyship. 

Language is a very powerful tool.  Advocates of CRT have mastered the art of hiding their radical agenda behind innocuous sounding titles as a way of disarming unsuspecting and well-meaning parents.  The following three topics all fall into this category. 

Social emotional learning or SEL sounds like a perfectly normal topic on which educators should focus.  However, it co-opts parents’ responsibility for teaching values and other social skills at home and is a Trojan horse for educators to indoctrinate students into becoming social justice activists.   The most prominent creator of said curriculum is diversity consultants known as CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) which recently updated their definition of SEL, “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.” 

An ally is another common term in the world of CRT and is defined by Harvard University as “someone who makes the commitment and effort to recognize their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and work in solidarity with oppressed groups in the struggle for justice. Allies understand that it is in their own interest to end all forms of oppression, even those from which they may benefit in concrete ways.”  Lessons on being an ally or allyship are common in small group settings such as advisory groups.  There, students are taught that they are racist is they do not actively seek out and destroy all racism.

Cultural competencies and culturally responsive teaching cause a real conundrum and it is a mystery why this theory has not been recognized as hypocritical.  All the focus of DEI, CRT, etc. is to put a stop to racism, yet teachers are encouraged perpetuate stereotyping with their students under the percept of culturally responsive teaching.  The National Education Association (NEA) defines cultural competence as “the ability to successfully teach students who come from cultures other than our own.”  For teachers to do that they must make judgements based on commonly held beliefs about different cultures.

Moving away from the school’s website, it is also wise to begin to follow these schools on social media.  They are putting their best foot forward on Facebook and Instagram to boost their applications.  See what holidays they choose to acknowledge or not…hint: Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day? Look for what student and teacher accomplishments the school celebrates.  In a nutshell, what is the school most proud to show the world? 

In addition to faculty and administrators pushing the CRT agenda in K-12 education, the accreditation organizations that independent schools belong to also use CRT as a weapon to force schools to comply by threatening their accreditation status.  Looking at those websites can also offer a glimpse into what the schools are being forced to implement.  For example,  ISACS, Independent Schools Association of Central States, in 2017 hosted ISACS Diversity Summit: 21^st Century Strategies to Advance Equity where they promoted a session by saying, “Learn how to manage the rise of conservative feeling around issues of sexual orientation and gender as our nation takes more steps toward inclusion, especially around transgender rights and in light of Black Lives Matters and other current movements.”

Finally, there is one more place to look to gain insight into the mindset of the faculty at an institution.  That is to follow the money.  All of this information is available to the public on the website of the Federal Election Commission.  Searching by employer will bring up a list of contributions made to various political candidates as well as political action committees such as  Act Blue and Win Red.

Research and homework are the most effective ways to uncover CRT in private schools.  For additional information Citizens for Renewing America has also published in detailed guide called Combatting Critical Race Theory in Your Community which is full of information but is more geared for public schools.   And the Manhattan Institute published an in depth brief called Woke Schooling: A Toolkit for Concerned Parents.