This weekend thousands of Texas public school administrators and school board members will meet in San Antonio for the annual Texas Education Conference (txED22) to attend workshops that include many references to “equity.”
txED22, hosted by the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB)––taxpayer-funded lobbying groups for school officials that oppose school choice—is set to present workshops on a multitude of issues from responding to parent concerns over controversial curriculum to transgender students and “equity issues.”
A seemingly innocuous term, “equity” is not to be confused with equality of opportunity. Instead, the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” departments in businesses, government, and schools (and their consultants) have shown more interest in promoting equal outcomes, regardless of qualifications.
The Heritage Foundation explains, “Equity, under the corrupted new meaning, calls for government to dispense unequal treatment in order to achieve equal outcomes.”
One of the workshops entitled “A Transformative Data Equity Assessment Approach to Improve Student Outcomes and Pathways,” says it will use a “data assessment approach” to “identify and eradicate inequities thereby, improving student outcomes and eliminating student achievement gaps.”
Attendees will “examine the [Garland ISD] board’s resolution, guidelines for formation of an equity task force, selection of an educational partner, data collection, training session details, and initial findings.” They can then “preliminarily assess their district’s district data to reveal potential disproportionality.”
The question then becomes what the school district will do in order to “eliminate” these achievement gaps.
Nearby Grapevine-Colleyville ISD has already experienced the results of a “diversity council,” and as a result, recently banned Critical Race Theory and the promotion of LGBT ideologies at the behest of parents.
Meanwhile, also included in the program is a workshop on “Curriculum Management Audit,” for teachers to learn how to “objectively evaluate curriculum and all facets of the organization that impact student learning, and determine critical next steps in promoting student achievement.”
However, included as an area of suggested evaluation is “equality and equity issues.”
Another presentation, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, will talk about an “equitable environment for all students” in regard to student dress codes. It claims to “explore how dress codes in public schools have recently caused discrimination based on gender, race, and religion.”
As schools continue creating “Diveristy, Equity, and Inclusion” offices and councils, citizens can expect to see more of these divisive and insidious racial and “equity” ideologies creeping into children’s classrooms.
Concerned citizens can contact their local school board to find out if their tax dollars are funding trips to the txED22 conference this weekend.
