A Raleigh high school wants an ‘anti-racism’ grant from a group that supports CRT
Updated with school board approving grant application.
The Wake County school system will allow a Raleigh high school to apply for a grant from a Triangle group that promotes how teachers can use Critical Race Theory in schools.
The school board approved Tuesday letting Millbrook High School apply for an educator training grant from the organization called we are (Working to Extend Anti-Racist Education). Durham-based we are has organized events such as the “Let’s Talk Racism” Conference in March, where the theme was “Seeing Critical Race Theory in Our Schools: From Theory to PRAXIS.”
“Millbrook High School has expressed interest in pursuing a grant from the non-profit organization, we are,” Matt Dees, a Wake school spokesman, said in an email Monday. “The Office of Grants and Strategic Advancement is seeking board approval for this and other potential sources of grant funding.
“The we are grant would be ‘to support projects that disrupt racial discipline disparities or to support the creation of racial equity teams.’ Millbrook is the only school that has expressed interest in pursuing this grant.”
Controversy over grant
Conservative groups are up in arms over the grant.
“The only thing this school board is disrupting & dismantling is education,” Amy Marshall tweeted Sunday.
Marshall is a former Wake teacher who founded the Carolina Teachers Alliance, which aims to be an alternative to the North Carolina Association of Educators.
N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore also criticized the grant request.
“This is wholly unacceptable,” Moore tweeted Monday night. “No North Carolina school should be teaching anti-American Critical Race Theory in our classrooms, much less competing for a grant from an organization focused on promoting CRT.”
Several speakers spoke out agains the grant during Tuesday’s public comment session at the board meeting.
But board member Roxie Cash, whose district includes Millbrook, defended the grant application. She said the class that the teachers will take help them learn how to make students feel safe and secure.
“One of the goals of the program is to provide the staff with the latest knowledge and skills to provide a responsive learning environment for a highly diverse student body,” Cash said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “So if anybody in this audience has visited Millbrook High School as much as I have, it is a highly diverse body.”
The we are group didn’t respond to a voicemail message and emails from The News & Observer on Monday requesting comment.
Is Critical Race Theory taught in schools?
The grant comes at a time when what role Critical Race Theory plays in schools is being hotly debated around the nation.
Critical Race Theory holds that racism has been a systemic part of the nation’s history that still influences society today. Some educators say the concept of Critical Race Theory, also called CRT, is only taught in universities.
But schools have been accused of promoting Critical Race Theory concepts when teachers discuss topics such as white privilege and systemic racism.
Since January 2021, 42 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching Critical Race Theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. Seventeen states have imposed these bans and restrictions either through legislation or other avenues.
In September, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill passed by Republican lawmakers that they said was targeted at keeping Critical Race Theory from being promoted in North Carolina’s public schools.
Wake County, which is North Carolina’s largest school district, denies it teaches Critical Race Theory. Instead, the district says it encourages teachers to promote inclusive practices designed to reach out to its diverse student enrollment.
Last year, Wake County canceled a course on Critical Race Theory on its staff training website, saying the course had been mistakenly added without proper vetting. In 2020, the district hosted an equity training event where topics such as CRT and “whiteness in ed spaces” were discussed.
‘Dear White Parents’
Ronda Tayor Bullock, a former Durham high school teacher and self-described critical race theorist, founded the we are group. She helped create the “Dear White Parents” ad campaign that encourages white parents to talk with their children early and often about racism.
More recently, Bullock was outspoken after a group of white Chatham County students held a mock slave auction of Black classmates. Bullock was invited by Chatham County Schools to speak at a webinar about confronting racism.
Bullock and we are have been vocal about the need to use Critical Race Theory in schools.
“The purpose of this event is to give K-12 educators and pre-service teachers an opportunity to engage in sessions centered on the impact of systemic racism and ways of dismantling it in our schools,” according to the description for the “Let’s Talk Racism” conference. “A CRT framework helps us achieve this goal.”
The group created the educator grant program to provide Pre K-12 teachers with grants of $500 to $1,500.
“WE ARE provides anti-racism training,summer camps, and professional development opportunities for students and educators,” according to Millbrook’s grant application. “The Educator Grants program supports PreK-12 educators seeking to apply anti-racism efforts in their classrooms, schools, and communities.”
Marshall of the Carolina Teachers Alliance charged that the grant application is a case of the school board “forcing CRT on students & staff again.”
CRT, but not Critical Race Theory
While Millbrook would apply for the grant through we are, the training would be offered by UNC-Charlotte, according to Lisa Luten, a Wake school spokeswoman.
Luten said the grant would allow six Millbrook High teachers to attend training about culturally responsive teaching. While they have the same acronym and both deal with race, Luten said culturally responsive teaching and Critical Race Theory are different concepts.
Cash, the board member, praised the quality of the educational programs offerd by UNC-Charlotte. She said that we are is
Critics of Critical Race Theory contend that terms such as culturally responsive teaching and culturally relevant teaching are attempts to rebrand CRT.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 5:11 PM.
