The progressive concept of “diversity, equity, and inclusion'” is newspeak for enforcing progressive political values and not including anyone who disagrees.
This is becoming an industry within education and is increasingly funded with tax dollars.
This effort has grown out of college campuses over the last decade and has now been embraced by many public schools. You may not know how lucrative this field has become and that it is fed largely by tax dollars. Your tax dollars.
Chrissy Clark and Joe Schoffstall write at the Washington Free Beacon:
Prominent Diversity Consulting Firm Funded Entirely by Taxpayer DollarsA prominent equity consulting firm that conducts “anti-racist” trainings is funded entirely by taxpayer dollars, tax filings reveal.The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) is a self-proclaimed “social justice” nonprofit that conducts “anti-racist audits” for corporations and schools, often in partnership with far-left groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center. The consortium was recently awarded a lucrative contract by Maryland’s largest school district and works with educators across 15 states.MAEC’s influence comes at the taxpayer’s expense. According to its most recent tax filings, the group hauled in $2 million solely from government grants between mid-2018 and mid-2019. It has not reported a single private donation in four years. MAEC’s reach is made possible thanks to a partnership with the Department of Education.
As mentioned above, in November, a school board in Maryland voted to pay the “Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium” a fee of almost half a million dollars to perform an “anti-racist audit” of their system.
Caitlynn Peetz reported at Bethesda Magazine:
MCPS might spend $450K on ‘anti-racist system audit’The Montgomery County school board on Tuesday is expected to authorize Superintendent Jack Smith to spend up to $450,000 on an “anti-racist system audit,” intended to find areas in which the school district could improve inclusion and diversity.Consultants with Bethesda-based Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium will be tasked with the one-year project if the school board approves a contract on Tuesday. The cost of the contract is “not to exceed $454,680 for Fiscal Year 2021,” the current fiscal year, according to school board documents posted online Monday afternoon.“The anti-racist audit will provide an opportunity to both examine our systems, practices, and policies that do not create access, opportunities, and equitable outcomes for every student’s academic and social emotional well-being,” documents say. “The audit will provide the opportunity to examine not only the student experience; it presents the occasion to analyze our policies and practices that impact staff, as well.”
The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium website describes its mission in one sentence:
MAEC’s mission is to promote excellence and equity in education to achieve social justice.
This is their theory of action:
MAEC believes that if we co-create an environment that enables clients to develop a common aim and work collaboratively to design and implement an action plan based on specific needs, and we provide technical assistance and training on effective strategies, then clients are able to develop and use equitable policies and practices to create optimal conditions for teaching and learning. Results may include: increased student access to high quality teachers and curriculum, student engagement, equitable disciplinary policies and practices, and academic achievement of low-income, racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students. We turn equity from a value into an integrated and sustainable practice.
One book recommendation by a staffer on the site says:
Right now, I am listening on Audible to How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. I love how he weaves his personal accounts into the book, drawing from his background to get his points across. Another book I’m working on was recommended by a friend: Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Kids are not in school in many parts of the country. Reading and math skills are suffering, but a left-wing grift machine is taking taxpayer funds to promote progressive politics in public schools.
Disagree with the politics, and you might be called a racist or worse.
This is not about education. It’s political indoctrination, and taxpayers are being forced to subsidize it.
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