The Manhattan Beach Unified school District Board (MBUSD Board), when we were leaving, did what all schools boards are accused of doing: they condemned concerned parents instead of examining and correcting their actions.
Jen Fenton was not happy with the opposition from WeTheParents calling attention to what happens at school board meetings. The October 8th board meeting saw her shed a tear and had the Manhattan Beach Police Department there. In President Fenton’s opening remarks, she referenced threats made towards her personally, and attaching these threats, without any evidence, to WeTheParents.
“To respond to a very public and widespread newsletter that went out over the weekend from a group called ‘We the parents MB.’ I’ll start by saying that the email is full of lies, is both slanderous as well as defamatory. For those who are watching and are part of this group please know that I’ve spoken with attorneys and have subsequently filed a report with Manhattan Beach Police Department. We’ve also contacted the web post where We the Parents Manhattan Beach email address is registered, to report the abuse and misconduct.
“This anonymous group is trying to derail that which the school board was elected to do – oversee education and represent the interests of our students and staff. Contrary the many lies spread about me, my goal is not to replace academic excellence or character growth. A process is required to change curriculum. This includes a committee that involves parent, teacher, and board votes. I unilaterally do not have the authority to impart CRT, white fragility or racial reckoning into our teacher’s course material. These theories and their applications in K-12 education have never been discussed by the governing boards. MBUSD has always and will continue to teach ‘real Math, Science, History and English.’
California’s curriculum framework and common core standards are the guidelines that we follow. We’ve never veered from the agenda of providing the best education for our students. So, to say that I’ve replaced any of our academics is one hundred percent disinformation. It’s untrue. I will repeat it. This outlandish claim has no validity. The workshop will be held on October 20, where we’ll discuss the results of an equity audit conducted by MBUSD. And during that conversation we’ll explore next steps to make our campuses and our curriculum more inclusive.”
Here is President Fenton’s full, 7-minute screed against the parents who are raising legitimate questions and concerns about where the MBUSD Board and Trustees are taking this new push for Equity, Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusion (EDSJI), and why it has to be so damned expensive.
The MBUSD Board and Trustees scheduled the October 20, 2021 workshop to discuss the results of the CLEAR Equity Audit and how to incorporate the report into the school district’s EDSJI initiatives.
President Fenton claimed that the board would explore next steps on how to make MBUSD “more inclusive”. While the board, the MBUSD Trustees, as well as their selected speakers made a show of “inclusiveness,” they did a poor job. Not a great experience was having four PRO-EDSJI voices at the front of the session and listening to comments and concerns from those in between. Although some pro voices were permitted by the MBUSD board trustees to speak between the dissenters and the public, this did little more than to mute the concerns or make them less important and render the opposition non-existent.
Many of the PRO comments sounding oddly familiar and scripted. This is also an attempt to create unity, embed buzzwords and make the PRO comments seem normal.
A MBUSD graduate claimed that equity and diversity learning helped him to be prepared for other experiences.
This is all very well, however it raises the question: Is it the parent’s role or that of the school?What is the best way to get started?
Fred Taylor, WeTheParents, made dissident comments. He also wrote an overview of his experience at the meeting.
“The EDSJI ‘workshop’ was akin to a kangaroo court. Participants could not see other participants unlike the open, transparent MB City Council meetings. The Workshop was closed to the public. It is not clear if the Workshop had 10 or 300 participants. At 5 p.m., there were 8 comments from the public. ordered by 4 ‘pro’ comments first.”
This type of limitation and marginalization is part of the Unions’ tactics in Sacramento. They also bring in favorable coalitions. en masseAllow them to have the final and most important word.
Taylor continued:
“From then on it was strictly subcommittee members presenting their advocacy without interruption in a one-way dialogue with virtually no comments by the community. The advocates and the indoctrinated on the Equity, Diversity, Social Justice, Inclusion, Cultural Competence talking amongst themselves… and finally Adult Recognition of Positionality…. several versions of academic word salads.”
This was certainly a lot of word-slicing, so if you feel confused or lost, don’t worry.
This is intentional.
Leftist intellectuals and educators are quick to use language confusion to create divisions and divide generations. It happened at the Tower of Babel, and these groups know it is a necessary tool to coalesce their “tribe” and place everyone else on the outside.
If you cannot use the language or you do not understand the language, this is a clear indicator that you are not a part of the tribe and definitely part of the “other.”
Your child doesn’t understand it either, which is part of the agenda, and the reasons for the tactics. Children are sensitive to being excluded, and they’ll adjust as necessary not to be. You can see it all in TikTok’s app. Peer pressure is powerful.
Leftist educators create and strengthen the wall of segregation by changing language to fit their needs, as if there weren’t enough ways to widen the gap between generations. Hence, all this blather about “inclusiveness,” “allies,” and “positionality.”
Your child must be taught the terms and how to use them. We are back at the workshop discussion.
Taylor also pointed out that Taylor was not pleased with the structure of the workshop.
“Aside from a handful of ‘chat’ comments/questions on Zoom, it’s as hard to say this was a ‘workshop’ as this whole ‘race-first, race-identity’ agenda is good for our kids. They will be separated into different groups, such as Dr. Bowes Davis HS. Black Only Student Union Club. You are the best??”
ReallyThis is the end goal. Whether School Superintendent Dr. John Bowes will admit it or not (he probably won’t), this is the end goal for MBUSD and every school district being targeted with EDSJI, CRT, ethnic studies, or whatever terminology is being used to couch this soft Marxism.
Ethnic or racial groups are not a problem. The school that I attended in my youth (majority Asian, white), had a Black Student Union. What do you know? You are welcome to join the Whites. NoneExcluded
This is not the case, however. After all, ethnicities need their “safe spaces” free from the oppressor.
There seems to be an emphasis on pitting children against one another because of their racial difference, and not showing them how they can work together. What does it matter what the differences between them are? The trustees and the board seem to think that rather than working with common ground in this school district this time, they must focus on what separates them. They can then build whole programs around this.
This trend is evident across the country and, once more, is intentional.
#MotherSound off #LoudounCounty #schoolboardHer 6-year-old daughter learned that she had been taught she was evil. She was white. #school#CRT #CriticalRaceTheory #wokeism #ParentsMatter #ParentsAreNotDomesticTerrorists #education #VirginiaElection2021 pic.twitter.com/VEDbtFVtIc
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) November 1, 2021
Questions should have been taken immediately following each EDSJI Subcommittee’s presentation about the EDSJI platform. President Fenton could limit it to certain numbers and block the time. What happened instead is that those who had concerns didn’t attend the workshop for three hours or became so irritated by the words being used that they couldn’t focus, any connecting tissue was gone.
Here’s how taking questions immediately would have benefited, especially in the area of “Inclusion.”
The focus 99 percent of this expression is on race. Consider religious inclusion? Speakers, board trustees, as well as speakers, are very vocal about using offensive language. Being a Christian I know I’ve been subject to insensitive, offensive, or discriminatory language because of my faith. Why are these issues not being addressed in the inclusive, equity, diversity language and spaces
Pamela Davidson stated in an interview that hate crime against churches is a common occurrence in Manhattan Beach.
“There have been other incidences that have happened that haven’t been raised. Acts against race, not hate.
“I mean, just this weekend at American Martyrs Church, where I’m a member, we had someone that wrote in red paint next to the statues of the martyrs, “murderers,” Davidson said.
“So there have been acts of hate against our church. You know they don’t like Catholics, and they don’t like Christians, so, there are ugly people around. The head of Virgin Mary has been shaved off. In our peace garden, they have done it two to three more times.
“I mean, it’s hateful people who are indiscriminate in their hate and they have a political agenda that they’re trying to push.”
Which church does MBUSD send its children to? How will those “lived experiences” and hate directed at their lived experiences be addressed in this new curriculum? How about cultural experiences? The joy of being raised in two cultures gives children the opportunity to experience both. Will the new curriculum give place for their “lived experience” to be heard and seen?
Or what if my lived experience doesn’t include racism or feeling marginalized? Imagine if my friends, campus experience, and the things I’m learning make me happy. Imagine if my only concern was race, and I just wanted to learn robotics.
The “diversity” buzzword is often bandied around, yet rarely incorporates diversity of thought. These could include religious, atheist, conservative, political, or other ideas not commonly accepted by the liberal mainstream.
Interviews were conducted during the CLEAR equity audit. One of the speakers made the point that in order to interview the children, they had to have the parent’s permission. If the parent had allowed follow-up questions right after the presentation, certain facts would have come out.
One example of such questions would be, What was the number of children interviewed?What is the best way to get started? Was it their race?What is the best way to get started? Which percentage is the student body?What is the best way to get started?
When comments and questions were addressed midway through the workshop, one dissenter named Cheryl Wendell made it known that the fact that they were simply throwing out these many “students” or
“stakeholders was not helpful. So much ambiguity,” she said.
It would be great to find out how many grievances are actually present if the MBUSD Board bases this initiative on interviews. It is two percent 10%? What about 35 percent? You don’t have to reveal your identities. The information should be shared with the parents or the people who truly are stakeholders. This information is about their child, time and money.
Part 2 of this exclusive explains how Pamela Davidson received her first invitation to present because of her expertise in data analysis. However, when they received Davidson’s analysis of the Equity Audit, she was quietly disinvited, but encouraged to speak over public comments.
Fred Taylor summarised:
“Suffice it to say, the data collected at the district did not support the findings/conclusions. According to Dr. Davidson, ‘There was a disconnect between the data and the conclusions and voluminous CRT recommendations.’ It was as though they took a survey and ignoring the data, recommended the “narrative” they’re pushing.’ That is, race is a problem on campus and indoctrination is required, from teachers to staff and on to students.
“And the icing on the cake of this whole MBUSD debacle is this: Page 36 of the 44-page Audit report states: “There was a lack of evidence. …regarding discrimination within the District.” WOW!
“That should have been the reason to stop this runaway train in its tracks. However, President Fenton and the Board refused to address Dr. Davidson’s professional findings as well as the lack of need for this agenda. The Board never addressed these issues.”
Davidson wasn’t the only person who thought the audit was flawed. Another dissenter, Lee Phillips, said it was “not a good quality report”, and that it was “confusing,” particularly in its definitions of “equity,” “diversity,” “inclusion,” and other terminology.
“Is the Manhattan Beach Unified School District diverse, or not? How can you make assessments if you don’t have good definitions?” Phillips said.
“What we really need is a real discussion,” Phillips concluded.
This begs the obvious question: Why is the Equity Audit being used by the board if it is flawed? It is not possible to incorporate the Equity Audit as an information point for creating policy and curriculum. Is that responsible for the students or parents? Or even in an excellence-oriented way?
The flawed report, for which the Board paid $25,000 to Center for Leadership and Equity Research (CLEAR), and WeTheParent’s concern over the Board’s rush to push EDSJI through was a common thread among the people who spoke their concerns or opposition. Unanimously, one dissenter argued that the Board hasn’t listened to parents.
Malone Becker made a public comment toward the very end of the workshop, and she expressed her disappointment that the board, “drained their coffers” to pay for the CLEAR Equity Audit. Becker raised concerns about the poor quality of student surveys for the report. And the conclusions that were drawn. Why was it that only 229 people completed the CLEAR survey when 517 took it? This survey can provide information about a whole school system, 6,524 students and a entire community.
“None of what is proposed in the report has anything to do with improving or pursuing academic excellence,” Becker said.
Ray Joseph also participated in the meeting, and he suggested a different focus. Joseph expressed that instead of reinventing the wheel, the district needed to get back to “competitive kids,” and that the EDSJI will render “unintended consequences” that may not be in the best interest of the students.
Joseph raised a ForbesThis article discusses the impact of the #MeToo Movement on men, including false allegations and their unintended consequences. Joseph suggested that students should be focused on academic and vocational excellence to find acceptance and a sense belonging. This will help them prepare for the future.
After listening to a very long three hours of this “workshop” one thing is clear: The MBUSD Board and Trustees are intent on plowing ahead based on the very incomplete, and flawed information presented in the CLEAR Equity Audit to craft their EDSJI policies and curriculum. Board member Jason Boxer encouraged moving ahead to craft an ethnic studies program, which is now required for graduation thanks to California’s governor. The closing discussion revealed that neither the trustees nor the board will abandon the CLEAR Equity Audit or the vague concepts of equity, diversity and inclusion.
The MBUSD Board seems to be on shaky ground. Pamela Davidson reports that the board employed a PR agency to push for an increase of parcel taxes in order to fund the schools.
You will have success with it. Californians rejected Proposition 15 in the November 2020 election. It sought to raise taxes on commercial and industrial properties to help fund community schools and colleges. If the pandemic revealed anything, it’s that citizens will no longer fall over themselves to fund more government boondoggles, especially ones that have “for the children” as part of the language.
There is also the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation (MBEF), which raises money annually to support the schools, and relies on contributions from the Manhattan Beach community to, according to the website, “sustain the programs that inspire learning, enrich teaching, and promote innovation and academic excellence in our public schools.”
Manhattan Beach parents do not need to finance this if they no longer believe that it is happening. Simply put.
“Defund the Police” has received way too much play over the past two years, and we are seeing the consequences of this with rising crime and a total disregard for law and order. “Defund Education” should have been given more of the focus, but from the rumblings across America for school choice and school board accountability for their actions, this is due to change.
If teachers’ unions and school boards want to continue on this path of wholesale disregard of parents and the community in order to implement an agenda that has little to do with equity, diversity, and inclusion, and everything to do with exclusion, homogenization, and indoctrination.
While there were a few more outside comments made, Malone Becker’s closing words were the mic drop moment:
“We are spending so much energy, money, and time on trying to teach things about race, social justice, cultural awareness, and social/emotional learning. I actually do not want the government school teaching my children about these subjects because I feel the viewpoint is skewed and has alternative motives that align with the government agenda to divide our country, and to teach our students that our country is somehow fatally flawed, or to be apologized for,” Becker said.
“I do not want our history obliterated, as this is what makes us all Americans—a shared background and history. We are still the greatest nation on the planet, and it is why everyone is trying to come here—just look at our Southern border as an example.
“So, please, just focus all your energy and our money on bringing academic excellence, good moral character, a good work ethic, and a belief in a higher power to our Manhattan Beach schools. I respectfully request that you please disband the EDSJI committee and return your focus to academic excellence.”
Manhattan Beach parents don’t have to sign this indoctrination. Support WeTheParents. Once you have seen how much money was spent, it is time to stop funding and withhold tax dollars for any programs that are not in line with your personal values and those of your children.
You have the power and the “Positionality” to make it happen.
About Post Author
