Parental rights organization Parents Defending Education (PDE) has unveiled that an Illinois school district is engaging in employment discrimination for its staff.
According to PDE, Community Unit School District 300 in Algonquin, IL violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
In a letter exclusively shared with Townhall, PDE asked the regional attorney’s office to investigate the school district over this.
“Community Unit School District 300 has adopted a strategic plan to hire, retain, and establish a diverse staff, which establishes certain hiring practices for teachers of color in the District,” PDE said in its letter. “This policy promotes race-based hiring and educator retention in the District.”
Materials obtained by PDE show that the District has a five-step strategic plan that includes a goal of hiring a specific percentage of “diverse” faculty and staff. This is based entirely on race and sex.
“The first step is ‘develop the whole child.’ To facilitate this goal, the District prioritizes ‘increas[ing] student and staff understanding of cultural diversity and development ways to increase student sense of belonging,’” PDE stated in the letter.
In addition, teachers are given an “equity audit.”
“The District’s equity audit outlines questions for newly hired teachers of color to incorporate to into their classroom in an effort to increase a student’s feeling of belonging. Addressing such questions helps the District fulfill its commitment to ‘culturally Relevant Teaching,’” the letter said, with examples (via PDE):
- “Have you ever taken part in a conversation centered on race in an educational setting?
If yes, describe that conversation and how did it make you feel? If no, how comfortable would you be talking about race and its impact on education?”
- “At (enter school), we are committed to racial and gender equity. How would you create and maintain an inclusive learning environment for all of your students? In your response, please speak directly about how you would support your transgender Students.”
- “When was the last time you shared your pronouns? Why do you think it is essential to share your pronouns?”
- “At (insert school), our White Students have exceeded the performance of our Students of Color in the area of Reading/Math. According to (----- data), our White students are performing at the –th percentile, and our students of color are performing at the –th percentile on average. As a newly hired (insert subject) teacher, how do you plan to assist us in addressing the problem? How will you help us to rectify this discrepancy in student performance?”
In addition, the District is committed to “[d]evelop an overall plan to attract diverse, highly qualified candidates and retain highly effective staff.”
“Self-imposed, race-based hiring practices are unjust in any form. This is nothing more than race-baiting at the very least. Schools should be more focused on whether or not students can read at grade level, as opposed to how many times a day educators are asking students how they feel about ‘race in an educational setting,’” Caroline Moore, vice president of PDE, told Townhall.
The letter was filed on Thursday.