Policy
A California elementary school is under fire for dismal math and literacy rates that dropped further after purchasing a curriculum two years ago that was specifically described as “woke” by its creator. A Bay Area school overpaid for a curriculum called “Woke Kindergarten” founded by Akiea Gross.
Ms. Gross identifies as non-binary and posts an unapologetically anti-Israel, racist, and sexist ideology on all of her social media sites and within her curriculum website and products. Instead of showing any actual progress results, elementary school got worse.
Color me not surprised
Glassbrook Elementary School in California paid $250,000 for the Woke Kindergarten curriculum. Two years into their three-year contract with Mrs. Gross, the students at Glassbrook Elementary School are in worse shape than ever.
Only 4% of Glassbrook students are proficient in mathematics, and only 12% are proficient in English. These statistics earned Glassbrook a place in California's lowest performing tier on the Comprehensive School Improvement list.
Spending a quarter of a million dollars on this Woke Kindergarten curriculum did not help students read or answer math problems better. So, what is the purpose of this approach?
One of the primary goals of Woke Kindergarten It is “disrupting whiteness.” The curriculum includes various exercises including “I wonder” thought projects, such as the following:
“I wonder…if the United States stops funding the Israeli army, how can this money be used to rebuild Palestine?”
As a foreign policy and federal spending geek, I care about teaching both concepts in school. However, it's hard to believe that elementary students can adequately analyze and dissect this key question when, you know, they can't read.
Another “I wonder” exercise is:
“I wonder… if we abolish the police, what else can we do to keep people safe in the world?”
I can think of a few things, like making sure kids know how to read, write, and practice basic arithmetic so they can have a better shot at higher education and value-added job opportunities. But what do I know…I'm just a white person.
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Vocabulary work
Another interesting teaching tool in the Woke Kindergarten is what Mrs. Gross calls the “Woke Word of the Day.” These words aim to teach children the “language of resistance,” as it is called on the program’s website.
The goal is:
“…introducing children to libertarian vocabulary in a way that they can easily grasp and understand it and, most importantly, use it in their criticisms of the system.”
Examples of these waking up words from the day include:
- cease-fire
- He hits
- cancellation
- He objects
- Anti-racism
Before you dismiss this madness as something that only exists in the depths of California's known corruption, think again. In 2021, Akiya Gross found her way into the Virginia school system.
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The audiobook was recommended by the Fairfax Community Public School District security For second year students. Ms. Gross says in the audiobook:
“I feel safe when there are no police.”
At least Ms. Grose doesn't care to hide her agenda; She makes it clear who she is and what she aims to achieve in plain sight.
beautiful person
The curriculum created by Akia Gross is horrific in itself, and the amount of money she has raised from her far-left ideology is also astonishing. But the most outrageous (pun intended) thing Akiea Gross has produced are her thoughts on current events.
In a recent video, Ms. Gross said of the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7:
“I believe that Israel has no right to exist. I believe that the United States has no right to exist. “I believe that every settler colony that committed genocide against indigenous people has no right to exist.”
Ms. Gross is clearly not well-versed in history, like many of the young children she claims to want to teach. You would be hard pressed to find a nation on this earth that was not technically born from colonialism or any form of settlement.
Furthermore, it is also difficult to find a civilization that has not at one time been guilty of “genocide against indigenous peoples” to include any number of African nations that exist today. Hell, the definition of what constitutes an “indigenous people” gets a bit fuzzy when one considers that all ancient civilizations at one time roamed the land, often displacing other wanderers.
However, my personal favorite and disgusting creation of Mrs. Grose's is her new take on the nursery rhyme Wheels on the bus Used by teachers in New York. Her copy is titled Wheels on the tank It contains the following verses:
“The wheels of the tanks are turning and turning all over the city. The townspeople are holding their ground and never backing down.
And this beautiful suggestion:
“Bombs in the air are shooting into the sky. From every river to every sea, people are crying, crying, crying. Palestine is free until the wheels of the tanks fall off.
How iconic it is, even though you can't dance to it. Parents of all demographics should ask themselves why public school administrators and school boards spend their tax dollars on curriculum written by real extremists while describing homeschooling parents like me as dangerous and extremists.
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