"Left" in Beaverton Oregon

The Beaverton School District is the perfect example of what's wrong with this Social Justice / Anti-Racism faith. They show why applying the lens of Critical Race Theory solves nothing and instead creates more problems, complexity, and divisiveness.

Based on our research, we believe these are the three primary issues that has led BSD to become the most radicalized, CRT-led district in Oregon.

Their Equity & Inclusion Administrator, Pat McCreery, openly acknowledged he looks at all problems through the lens of Critical Race Theory. He has built support for this ideology by leveraging the recent racial issues in our nation and influential people inside and outside of the school district. 

BSD's leaders & school board make no attempt to explain the root causes for the issues they claim will be fixed by their radical Anti-racism approach.  They boldly claim, without evidence or examples, that the "Beaverton School District perpetuates institutional racism and embodies a white supremacist culture that continues to create barriers for inequities for members of our community."

They stoke the flames of anger and hate to coerce people toward their way of thinking. Their leaders have clearly set morals and ethics aside as they work to transform their district, the children, and the community.

There's a lot of confusion about what equity actually means, and that's not surprising. The true definition is to be "fair or impartial", but this doesn't necessarily mean "equal". Equity in schools is actually a very good thing. For example, a child with a disability can get accommodations, like more time on tests and assignments or preferential seating, to give them the same opportunity to succeed.

BSD instead has decided that they and they alone must implement changes to eliminate the gaps in graduation rates and disciplinary actions between different student groups (i.e. groups by race, gender, sexual preference, ability status, etc.) Rather than investing in more classroom teachers and resources, they are going all-in on Social Justice and Anti-racism through the broad application of Critical Race Theory.

But how does applying CRT help ensure equal outcomes, and what does that even mean? CRT doesn't reduce class sizes. CRT doesn't help provide the necessary accommodations that an ever-increasing number of students need. CRT isn't a solution to any of their problems. As for equal outcomes, what they mean is that there should be no difference in outcomes (i.e. graduation rates, number of school suspensions, etc.) for any student regardless of their race, gender, sexual preference, socio-economic status, ability status, etc. It may sound nice & noble, but this assumes every factor of every kid's life is something they can influence or control.

While there is no evidence to support BSD's reasoning or approach, their success is guaranteed thanks to changes they and the State of Oregon are making. For one, Oregon recently signed into law SB744, which suspends graduation testing requirements for three years. BSD also is actively working to eliminate the "F" grade, and has previously put strong limits on disciplinary actions to keep kids in classrooms rather than get them the support they need. All of this is designed to make the data look good so they can use that to validate their approach.

Is it really the diploma that's important or the knowledge and growth it is intended to represent?

In a "perfect world", the school board is intended to be a governing body over the school district. The board objectively reviews a district's strategy, evaluates their performance against goals, evaluates the performance of the Superintendent, and help guide the district on behalf of the community. You also have the unions that represent the needs of the educators so they can be best positioned to support their students.

We have been sent thousands of emails and documents from the Beaverton community. People have shared copies of communications they've had with BSD staff, BSD board members, union representatives, and other public officials. They have shared many, many public records that clearly show the lack of rigor and blind faith BSD has put in their approach. We've also found countless examples of BSD violating their own policies and state laws. It's clear the checks & balances are not functioning in Beaverton. 

As long as you are pushing for the Social Justice movement, you can say and do just about anything you want. You can threaten to fire people. You can tell someone their white skin makes them untrustworthy and incapable of doing their job. You can write into your district's strategic plan that you need to replace half of your White teachers with BIPOC teachers and the board will unanimously approve it. You can declare racism and White supremacy is everywhere and refuse to provide examples as even asking is for them is racist. You can spend hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars to line the pockets of your friends in "Equity & Antiracism Consulting", while letting class sizes & students spiral out of control.

This is what being left in Beaverton Oregon looks like today.