<div style="color:black;font: 10pt arial;">An article a few days ago in USA Today reminds me of this issue, but from a differing perspective, and could be related. As one who learned American History in the Jim Crow South, I can relate:
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<div><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/02/10/slavery-and-history-states-threaten-funding-schools-teach-1619-project/4454195001/__;!!KGKeukY!jHoA4IjKAt4feRPtGfxy7aWNQ_PKEEs9CT93rn34FXmNGVZMeNvQ-1FcdW_zoX8I8p2o$">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/02/10/slavery-and-history-states-threaten-funding-schools-teach-1619-project/4454195001/</a></div>
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<div>Mary Collier<br>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black"><font size="2">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: via Ohiogift <ohiogift@lists.osu.edu><br>
To: 'Will Fitzhugh' <fitzhugh@tcr.org><br>
Cc: 'Art Snyder via Ohiogift' <ohiogift@lists.osu.edu><br>
Sent: Fri, Feb 12, 2021 6:31 pm<br>
Subject: Re: [Ohiogift] Bad Education<br>
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<div>The author of this article is not someone whose views should be taken without further research.
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<div>He writes for the very conservative Discovery Institute, a group that believes in ID (Intelligent Design) which is a form of creationism. And while the public schools in Philadelphia (and other major cities) are struggling, and the attempts to honor Black history might be a bit excessive, I am not sure that posting this on our Ohio Gift site was a good idea...</div>
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<div>Respectfully,</div>
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<div>Susan Marantz<br clear="none"><br clear="none">
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From: "Will Fitzhugh via Ohiogift" <br clear="none">To: "Art Snyder via Ohiogift"<br clear="none">Cc: <br clear="none">Sent: Friday February 12 2021 8:33:28AM<br clear="none">Subject: [Ohiogift] Bad Education<br clear="none"><br clear="none">
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<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;"><b>By sixth grade, only 3 percent of students are
proficient in math, and 9 percent are proficient in reading. By
graduation, only 13 percent of Kelley students will have achieved
basic literacy.</b></div>
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<i>City Journal</i> eye on the news</div>
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<div style="margin:0px 0px 14.9px;line-height:normal;"><b><font size="5">Bad
Education</font></b></div>
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In a Philadelphia elementary school, teachers are putting a premium
on radicalism, not reading.</div>
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<div style="margin:0px;line-height:normal;color:rgb(0,0,233);"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.city-journal.org/contributor/christopher-f-rufo_1334__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjCUcat4P$">Christopher F. Rufo</a></span><span style="color:#000000;"> </span></div>
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February 11, 2021</div>
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<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">A Philadelphia elementary school recently forced
fifth-grade students to celebrate “black communism” and simulate a
Black Power rally in honor of political radical Angela Davis.</div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">According to <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://christopherrufo.com/bad-education__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjG21FxYW$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);">whistleblower documents</span></a> and a source within the
school, a fifth-grade teacher at the inner-city William D. Kelley
School designed a social studies curriculum to <b>celebrate Davis, praising the “black communist” for her fight
against “injustice and inequality.”</b> As part of the lesson, the
teacher asked students to “describe Davis’ early life,” reflect on
her vision of social change, and “define communist”—presumably in
favorable terms.</div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">At the conclusion of the unit, the teacher led the ten-
and eleven-year-old students into the school auditorium to
<b>“simulate” a Black Power rally to “free Angela Davis”
from prison, where she had once been held while awaiting trial on
charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. The students marched
on the stage, holding signs that read “Black Power,” “Jail Trump,”
“Free Angela,” and “Black Power Matters.” They chanted about Africa
and ancestral power, then shouted “Free Angela! Free Angela!” as
they stood at the front of the stage.</b></div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">The William D. Kelley School has long been one of the most
troubled in the district. The school’s student <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.philasd.org/performance/programsservices/open-data/school-information/__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjI04mb87$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);">population</span></a> is 94 percent black and 100 percent
“economically disadvantaged.” Academically, it is one of the
worst-performing <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.greatschools.org/pennsylvania/philadelphia/1943-Kelley-William-D-School/__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjHCBhn-a$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);">schools</span></a> in Pennsylvania. <b>By sixth grade,
only 3 percent of students are proficient in math, and 9 percent
are proficient in reading. By graduation, only 13 percent of Kelley
students will have achieved basic literacy.</b></div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">Despite this abysmal academic performance, teachers and
administrators at William Kelley have gradually <b>abandoned traditional pedagogy in favor of political
radicalism.</b> Even the school’s newest public artworks illustrate
this politicization. Administrators recently <b>commissioned a mural of Davis and Huey P. Newton</b>, who
represent the Communist and Black Panther revolutionary movements
of the 1960s; both figures stood trial for various crimes,
including the murder of a police officer.</div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">Unfortunately, the programs at William Kelley are no
aberration. In recent years, <b>the entire Philadelphia
public school system has embraced the philosophy of
“antiracism.”</b> Last summer, the superintendent <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.philasd.org/antiracism/__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjDUs6dkk$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);">released</span></a> an Antiracism Declaration promising to
“[dismantle] systems of racial inequity” and circulated a memo
recommending racially segregated training programs for white and
black educators. <b>The local teachers’ union</b> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GMTpAZb4Hw__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjO7DnTmU$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);"><b>produced</b></span></a> <b>a video denouncing the
United States as a “settler colony built on white supremacy and
capitalism”</b> that has created a “system that lifts up white
people over everyone else.” The solution, according to the union,
is to overthrow the “racist structure of capitalism,” provide
“reparations for Black and Indigenous people,” and “uproot white
supremacy and plant the seeds for a new world.”</div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">In practical terms, it is unclear how these “antiracist”
programs will translate into academic outcomes. <b>The gap
between rhetoric and reality at schools such as William Kelley is
almost beyond comprehension: the vast majority of the ten- and
eleven-year-olds marching for the utopia of “black communism” can
barely read and write.</b> Rather than come to terms with the
pedagogical failure of Philadelphia public schools, however,
educators have shifted the blame to “systemic racism” and promises
of “revolution.”</div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">That students at schools such as William Kelley could
depart virtually bereft of basic literacy is a tragedy for
them and a shame for the teachers and adults promising to
“plant the seeds for a new world.” <b>They have condemned
their students to join the ranks of the more than</b> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.phillymag.com/news/2012/11/20/reading-post-plenty-thankful/__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjOo3_-WK$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);"><b>half</b></span></a> <b>of all adult Philadelphians who
are “functionally illiterate.”</b></div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;">One teacher at William Kelley, who requested anonymity out
of fear of reprisals, expressed deep pessimism about the future of
public education: <b>“I’ve come to realize that no policy
hurts African-Americans more than the public school system and the
teachers’ union.” The teacher is right.</b> In absolute terms, the
numbers are demoralizing. The School District of Philadelphia has
18,000 employees and a $3.4 billion annual <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.philasd.org/budget/budget-facts/quick-budget-facts/__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjH1Ix3m3$"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,233);">budget</span></a>—and fails, year after year, to teach the
basics of “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” As it turns out,
education is hard; political fantasy is a useful diversion.</div>
<div style="margin:0px 0px 12px;line-height:normal;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(0,0,233);"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.city-journal.org/contributor/christopher-f-rufo_1334__;!!KGKeukY!jPduFGHj-x5ERcN1UhymOjjA-0c8RVTGcW57utNf-5gXxTeTfsdEJbdXH9-CjCUcat4P$"><i>Christopher F. Rufo</i></a></span> <i>is a contributing editor of</i> City Journal <i>and
director of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth &
Poverty.</i></div>
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