Irvine Unified School District Board of Education Approves continuation of Explicit Focus on Social Justice During July 12 Board Meeting
My Public Comments Respectfully Objecting
The following news article summarizing the discussion on Social Justice (or lack there of) at the July 12 Board of Education meeting has been submitted to Irvine Watchdog for publication:
The Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) Board Of Education voted 5-0 to approve The Continuous Improvement Efforts for the 2022-2023 school year following a presentation on these efforts and a public comment objecting to the continued explicit focus on Social Justice by an Irvine mom who is a member of the Continuous Improvement Council. The presentation was given by Assistant Superintendent of Education Services Cassie Parham. Ms. Parham’s presentation can be viewed here where it commences at the 18 minute 22 second mark of the meeting. The Continuous Improvement Efforts document approved by the Board can be found on IUSD’s website. Page two of the approved document, under Guiding Principles and Practices, lists IUSD’s desire (at a District Wide level) to maintain an “explicit focus on Social Justice and anti-bias” in an effort to “help students cultivate the knowledge and skills necessary to reduce prejudice and take collective action to improve conditions for marginalized groups.” The document states each school is expected to develop an Equity, Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) plan that will be “reviewed and refined annually” as well as included in the “School Plan For Student Achievement (SPSA)” which is required to be submitted, by the district, to the California Department of Education on an annual basis. Each IUSD teacher is expected to develop a goal to “create an environment within the classroom that challenges inequity, raises consciousness, and improves conditions for marginalized groups.” Teacher goals are to be established with clearly defined actions and descriptions of how progress will be measured. The document does not define “marginalized groups”. The document makes reference to integrating Social Justice Standards into the district culture. The standards referred to can be found here and are also hyperlinked under 19(b) in the online agenda for July 12. The standards originate from the Learning For Justice website which is an organization that was formed by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1991. The director of the Learning For Justice organization, Jalaya Liles Dunn, states that the organization “maintains a progressive perspective on race, gender and diversity.” Ms. Dunn remarks “As we confront the current assaults on democratic values and ethical education—through anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ legislation, anti-immigrant policies, book bans, and the threat to reproductive rights—we recognize that these anti-democratic policies are based on the fear of an inclusive society.”
During Ms. Parham’s presentation on Continuous Improvement Efforts for 2022-2023 (19(b) under “Items of Business” on the July 12 meeting agenda) she notes that IUSD’s desire for Continuous Improvement was conceived by IUSD Founding Superintendent Stanley Corey whose vision was for IUSD to be the best district in the nation and remain the best. Ms. Parham shared this desire was passed on to Superintendents that followed and remains the desire of Superintendent Terry Walker today. To help fulfill the desire, a Continuous Improvement Council (also referred to as Stakeholder Committee) was formed years ago and is comprised of over 100 stakeholders. The stakeholders are teachers, students, parents and administrators. The council meets three times during the school year. The focus of the Council has recently shifted towards developing the vision for multi-year Excellence, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EEDI) School Plans. The Continuous Improvement Efforts document that was approved by the Board will serve as the guiding document for implementation of the EEDI plan. Ms. Parham concluded her presentation by affirming “We are excited about what we are doing and we are excited about where we are going.”
Below are the public comments that I shared during the meeting. My public comments were shared before the Board voted 5-0 on approving the Continuous Improvement Efforts document as it was presented by Ms. Parham (which includes the explicit focus on Social Justice and requirements for schools and teachers surrounding that focus). The video version of my public comments is posted to Rumble:
I would like to express support for the work and efforts of the IUSD Continuous Improvement Stakeholder Committee. I fully approve of 2022-2023 Continuous Improvement Efforts document and feel it’s excellent and well written with the following exceptions:
1-I respectfully object to the first half of page 2 that refers to an explicit focus on Social Justice AND 2- I respectfully object to Learning For Justice- the web resource being used for the Social Justice Standards referred to in the meeting agenda for this item of business.
With regard to the goals on page 2, I would like to question why the “explicit focus on social justice and anti-bias” and why the requirement that measurable goals at District, School and Teacher levels be established around this? The Board should know that as a member of the Continuous Improvement Committee who attended all committee meetings over the past year, the opportunity to express a dissenting opinion on or have conversation about the explicit focus on social justice was never granted. Furthermore, stakeholder feedback was not solicited when deciding on framework models to be used for the explicit focus on Social Justice. These decisions were made entirely by Administration. The Board should be aware that the “Learning For Justice” web resource outwardly maintains a premise that there are intentionally cruel policies against Black people and LGBTQ children, that CRT is ethical education, white supremacy and repression are what leads to acts of racism and anti-Black violence. This website grooms teachers and students to be activists, openly advocates for a progressive perspective on race, gender and diversity- publications to this site maintain and promote a narrative that is ideological in nature. Please refer to the article from the site Director on pages 12-15 in your packet. What I just shared, understandably, explains the disconnect between the required Social Justice goals on page 2 AND everything else stated in the Continuous Improvement document. An explicit focus on Social Justice is out of alignment with what data from annual survey results show, out of alignment with the LCFF Budget Overview AND out of alignment with IUSD’s guiding principles. The un-necessary explicit focus on Social Justice for IUSD has resulted in:
A decrease in student enrollment
An increase in the number of student discipline cases year over year with a total of 10 during 2021/2022- see p.1 of your packet
More incidents of racism
2/3 of high school student respondents indicating that they have experienced sustained periods where they are down, sad, or hopeless and found little pleasure in doing things they normally do the past 12 months – see pgs 2-3 of your packet
Increased stress levels – 36% of 2021/2022 survey respondents indicated they disagreed or strongly disagreed level of stress felt is generally low – see pages 4-5 of your packet
Statistically significant number of students are not comfortable sharing their ideas and participating in classroom discussions: only 61% of survey respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree they are comfortable sharing their ideas and participating – see page 5 of your packet
Problems with academic honesty at schools -29% of survey respondents indicate academic honesty is a problem at their school in 2021/2022 up from 26% in 2020/2021—see pages 6-7 of your packet
These data points support my objection to such explicit focus on social justice. Page 10 of the Hanover Research Executive Summary of your annual survey results shows that “There is a high level of consensus that schools and the district support students from diverse backgrounds”. This is further evidence that an explicit focus on social justice is un-necessary and is potentially only sowing division amongst students/faculty/staff because the IUSD community naturally appreciates diversity, inclusion and equal access to opportunity. When it comes to your staff, the trending of your annual survey results indicates that your staff do not feel supported by district-level administrators nor do they feel their input on district decisions is solicited and valued (p10-11 in your packets). If you listen to your survey respondents and take their feedback to heart- including feedback shared via public comments and letters to District Administration and members of the board from parents, you recognize that Social Justice is not the community’s top priority and any focus on it should be discontinued. For the sake of, and in the spirit of continuous improvement, place your focus and emphasis on supporting student learning, supporting your staff and on Mental Health/Social Emotional Wellbeing. Members of the Board this matter is in your hands, please take the appropriate action to end the explicit focus on Social Justice immediately. Please follow through on your own stated words by showing you are “committed to removing barriers, providing additional support, and embracing the idea that ALL students can learn at high levels.”
APPENDIX
Information Packet I shared with the Board during my public comments
Executive Summary of IUSD 2021-2022 Annual Survey Data