We, the NHC GOP, were recently asked by a reporter, “Why do you continue to fight by speaking out and putting up billboards after the Board of Education (BOE) Members repeatedly state that CRT is not being taught in NHC Schools and there are no plans to do so?”

We would like to clarify a few implied assumptions contained in this question.  The efforts to speak out, garner support for concerned citizens to attend BOE meetings, and pay for billboards is the work of parents and concerned citizens.  While we fully support the efforts of this non-partisan group, we realize the composition is not and should not be limited to conservatives or Republicans.  This is an issue that every parent, grandparent, or patriot should be deeply concerned about.  The reason the “fight” continues is because there is a severe lack of trust in what the Board Members are saying and what concerned citizens are seeing.  Let’s review some of the facts:

Embedded in the NHCS website was what appears to be a report illuminating progress made and future plans as they potentially pertain to CRT-type training and agendas.  The following are a few examples extracted from this report:

• Racial Equity Workshop Phase 1 (Foundational Training in Historical and Institutional Racism).
  • Two offerings 80 participants trained.
• Leading Equity Implicit Bias Training for Teachers
  • Part A = 1,654 participants district-wide Part B = 1,381 participants district-wide
• Culturally Responsive Training and The Brain Lab Sessions
• Leading Equity Implicit Bias Training for Students
• Leading Equity Training for Principals
  • 58 people trained
• Whole District Equity for Principals and Assistant Principals (Occurring 2020-2021 school year)
• Contemporary Issues (Workshop that tackles timely social issues emerging as the school year begins).

The entire Report can be found through the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at: https://www.nhcs.net/about-us/edi

Lack of Trust

Another reason for the lack of trust is that the entire vocabulary surrounding CRT is constantly changing.  Words like equity, inclusion, diversification, and equality are words that not too far in the distant past could be embraced by the vast majority of American society.

Beware of the Trojan Horse!

Board of Educations across America have changed the definition of these words to increase their own new state-of-the-art trojan horse.  We recently witnessed a BOE decision that the word inclusion was used to justify the vote to approve a policy that a self-identified female would now be allowed to play in girls’ middle school sports. However, this was done so creating inequality for the young women participating in the same sports programs.

Trust breaks down when a parent asks, “are you teaching CRT in our schools” and the response is “no.”  The answer is “no” because they have changed the name or definition.  This begs two questions.  Do the Board Members believe that parents are that naïve and uninformed?  Do they realize that over 70% of America opposes CRT, or whatever word Members have rebranded it, being taught in our schools?

Social-Emotional Learning

We want to alert you to a new model trojan horse just released and ready for a test drive.  Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) focuses less on academic content and knowledge and more on values, mindsets, attitudes, and feelings that are inappropriate for any school to teach or more inappropriately to probe.  In her Book, SEL: K-12 Education as New Age Nanny State, Dr Karen Effrem, MD points out that “the hottest topic in American public education is social-emotional learning (SEL). As student scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, or the “nation’s report card”) paint a gloomy picture of students’ accomplishments in reading and mathematics (especially since the implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI)), education decision-makers look toward probing students’ psyches rather than instilling academic knowledge.”

SEL encourages psychological profiling by endless assessments of parents, children, and teachers.

• Often without parental consent.
• Information placed into state databases.
• Performed by non-professional teachers.

To learn more, go to Dr. Effrem’s “white paper”.  This information can be found at the following link: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED593789.pdf

Karen Niemi, the CEO of “Collaboration for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning” (CASEL), oversees and directs all CASEL activities to enhance and expand evidence-based social and emotional learning, including practice, research, communications, policy, and development.  In December, Ms. Niemi announced her company “has revised its definition of and framework for “socio-emotional learning” to highlight the value of SEL as a weapon for social justice.

Is SEL currently a part of the New Hanover County School curriculum?  Absolutely it is!!!! A review of the summer school course schedule reveals, students are receiving 30 minutes of SEL training each.

If you have been watching the news recently, and we realize this is painful to do, you have observed concerned citizens like you who realize that CRT, SEL and all the other words being substituted, are not suitable or wanted in their children’s schools.  It is extremely rare that 70% of America can agree on anything, but on this issue, many Republicans, Unaffiliated, Democrats, people of color and whites agree. Any view this agenda as damaging to their children and a ploy by the extreme left to socialize America.

What Can You Do? Take these easy to do actions:

• Attend the next Board of Education meeting currently scheduled for July 13, 2021.  The meeting begins at 5:30 PM. The meeting location is 1805 S. 13th St., Wilmington.
• Take advantage of the opportunity to voice your opinion and concerns during the Board meeting.  If you are interested in speaking, you will need to visit the BOE website and sign up.  Also, if you wish to speak, please contact Lindy Ford, one of the co-chairs of the non-partisan group “All Kids Matter”.  She will assist you with talking points.  Lindy can be contacted at lindydford@gmail.com .
• If you decide that you do not want to speak at the meeting; please remember that simply being in attendance sends a loud and clear message.  Your presence would be extremely helpful.  The voice of thousands is greater than one.