Instead of effectively equipping educators to teach students to read and do basic math, the Hayward Unified School District in the Bay Area of California reportedly spent $250,000 on \u2018Woke Kindergarten\u2019 teacher training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what is \u2018Woke Kindergarten,\u2019 and what does the company producing this teacher training seek to do? According to their website<\/a>, \u201cWoke kindergarten is a global, abolitionist early childhood ecosystem and visionary creative portal supporting children, families, educators and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-black and queer and trans liberation.\u201d They offer workshops, consultations, woke read alouds, woke word of the day, and content listed as \u201cTeach Palestine.\u201d The website also features \u201ca sonority guide for kids\u201d called \u201cSo You Made It to a Protest!\u201d with content including protest signs reading, \u201cfrom the river to the sea Palestine will be free,\u201d \u201cqueer power over fear power,\u201d \u201cabolish prisons,\u201d and \u201cblack lives over white tears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parents send their elementary children to school expecting them to learn to read, write, and how to do arithmetic \u2014 not be prepared as activists at protests.<\/p>Keri D. Ingraham<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The district threw federal funds received for their underperforming school status on a woke agenda instead of academics. At Glassbrook Elementary within the district fewer than 12%<\/a> of students are at grade level in English and fewer than 4%<\/a> in math, yet this teacher training took priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The training included<\/a> telling teachers how to be \u201canti-racist\u201d and how to \u201cdisrupt whiteness\u201d in their classrooms. Yet, just 3.4%<\/a> of the 474 students enrolled at Glassbrook Elementary are white, which is 16 students in total. That translates to, on average, fewer than one white student per classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The quarter of a million dollar teacher training price tag is enormous. Imagine if those funds were allocated to academics such as phonics instruction training, literacy coaches, or math tutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parents send their elementary children to school expecting them to learn to read, write, and how to do arithmetic \u2014 not be prepared as activists at protests. These children, ranging from age five to twelve, need a solid academic foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n