Parents and other stakeholders say that despite a mountain of evidence, there remains a large group of activists, along with the media outlets that support them, who continue to deny that teachers are bringing radical racial and sexual conversations into classrooms, without parental consent.
After a bill that would have banned Critical Race Theory in classrooms failed to pass in the Arizona House earlier this year, Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services claimed that “despite politicians, including in Arizona, running for office with a promise to halt it [CRT] in public schools, there are only scattered reports of anything close to that being taught here.”
Arizona State Senator Christine Marsh, a Democrat and former classroom teacher, has been publicly rebuked for ignoring actual examples of Critical Race Theory and gender indoctrination presented to her by parents during committee hearings.
Another example of a denier is Robb Vaules, a progressive candidate for Scottsdale School Board. Vaules follows the lead of Superintendent Scott Menzel and publicly claims that parents and legislatures who are raising concerns about curriculum are demonizing education professionals.
Parents say they have uncovered enough facts to definitively state that Critical Race Theory (CRT), (a.k.a. Culturally Responsive Teaching) and Gender Ideology indoctrination are happening right here in Arizona.
Parents were stunned to learn that teachers recently flocked to an Arizona K12 Center professional development training with a focus on anti-racism where they learned about white supremacy, privilege, and anti-black racism.
ABOVE: Sample from Arizona K12 Center training
Parents in the Peoria Unified School District learned that the District’s administration sent staff to the “Time to Shine” Social Emotional Learning training where they learned “the use of critical race theory in equity building for marginalized youth of color.” The district also approved Corwin Publishing Company to train teachers how to help “white students to learn racial competence.” And of note, hundreds of Arizona teachers took an oath to teach Critical Race Theory regardless of parent opinion or the law.
The presence of CRT is not confined to public schools.
Brophy Preparatory School taught students that Tucker Carlson was racist. An Altadena Middle School teacher was recorded teaching a 6th grade class about gender identity and not trusting their parents. A Tucson high school hosted a drag show. One of the drag show teachers is “working to unlearn practices maintained by white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy.”
Paradise Valley Unified were less-than-pleased to learn that teachers assigned porn to high schoolers.
Chandler Unified has faced harsh criticism for offering controversial Critical Race Theory and gender identity books to students, and attempted to implement CRT under the revised name of “Windows, Mirrors & Sliding Glass Doors.”
Peoria Unified introduced Critical Theory through Bloom365 which teaches boys about “healthy masculinity,” including that to be an acceptable man one must adhere to gender identity as truth.
In Scottsdale, the district’s strategic plan includes a commitment to “culturally responsive teaching,” which is progressives’ buzzword for Critical Race Theory.
The Scottsdale District’s Support Services Department issued a newsletter that promotes a sex event for 14 year-olds that requires no parental consent, features the Gender Unicorn and includes words such as white supremacy, systemic oppression, justice and equity. A Scottsdale pre-k teacher discussed gender ideology with 6-year-olds, and district social workers leading the Unitown “Leadership” Club planned lessons in which students where to be asked if they “just needed a good gay/lesbian lover.”
Scottsdale’s Cocopah Middle School hosted a GLSEN Day of Silence in which 11-13 year-old students were asked to proclaim their pronouns and protest in support of LBGTQ+ individuals.
At Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain High School, the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) teacher led a discussion about intersectionality in which she asked students to rank themselves by skin color and sexual identity to determine which of them was the most marginalized. The district promoted a drag show for 14 year-olds, and a Scottsdale parent also received a blank transgender hormone therapy form in response to a public records request for emails sent to the GSA sponsor.
Scottsdale Unified also purchased a platform called Listenwise that teaches that gerrymandering is a process that allows white people to have more voting power, that universal basic income is desirable, and that businesses want the government to require vaccine passports.
Many Arizona schools also partner with GLSEN, (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) for class and club curriculum. The Scottsdale district is so entwined with GLSEN that the organization put out a statement of praise of for Superintendent Scott Menzel’s support. The district has hired GLSEN for teacher “groomer” trainings. GLSEN promotes to students that the gender binary and policing are white supremist concepts and that School Resource Officers put students at risk. GLSEN’s stated goal is to infuse its curriculum “wall-to-wall” from K-12.
And the ultimate proof that Critical Race Theory is pervasive in the schools is the existence of Social Emotional Learning, which is the implementation arm of Critical Race Theory/Culturally Responsive Teaching.
According to Courage is a Habit, “Fundamental to SEL is the belief that systems of power oppress some people depending on their race, gender, sexuality, and other identity factors. Equity requires giving some identity groups privileges in order to redistribute resources to the perceived systemic imbalance. SEL framework competencies are delivered through an “Equity Lens”.
Parents also point to the promotion of the divisive ideology outside the classroom. Maricopa County officials through a social media account urged residents “to educate themselves” about LGBTQ+ Ideology, including reading recommendations for children under 10 years of age. The Arizona Department of Education directed minors to an LBGTQ+ chat space and developed an “equity toolkit” that recommends a resource titled “What White Children Need to Know About Race,” which argues against “neutral” and “colorblind” approaches to race, saying such approaches are a “tool of whiteness.”
Parents say these are only some of the examples that they have uncovered in Arizona schools and other publicly funded agencies. Because of the efforts by deniers, parents are left wondering what insidious instruction has gone undetected.