Written 5/8/2021 - 7/2/2021
Honestly, I have struggled with this decision for many years for various reasons throughout the years. However, it just never seemed right. But this last year in particular has led me to do more research into Uplift Education itself and it’s teaching philosophies. There have been various small red flags throughout the last few years. But the one that inevitably led me on this journey was a teacher in middle school who I felt was giving inappropriate assignments for the class they were given in. And I only stumbled upon it after a conversation with my son about this particular teacher. In any case, I was alarmed and brought it to the Director’s attention. Her response was defensive and all she did was justify this teacher and the assignments using the IB (International Baccalaureate) program as an excuse. She said that they were allowed to add interdisciplinary assignments and use current events because of the IB standards (and we are an IB school). She also claimed the assignments were on Schoology for us to view. Well, they were not, which raised another huge red flag to me. And I checked many many times. To be fair, they may have been the very first time I looked, but when I went back to view them in detail, they were hidden from me and my scholar. While I understand current events may be discussed at school, I still maintain they should not be in this subject or with this teacher. I also did not like the way she brushed off my concerns and so I went to her boss. So, I started to worry about the curriculum - where does it come from and who approves it? How I don’t know this after 10 years already is on me really. But what followed, I was not even expecting.
So, I decided to do some research on the Board of Directors. First thing, I saw the letter that Uplift “released” to families. This letter outlines their Diversity and Equity plans in detail and was adopted at the beginning of this school year (Aug/Sept 2020). While I thought I saw an email about Black Lives Matter in the past, I do not believe it was in as much detail as this letter posted online. But I couldn’t find it in my email when I searched so I’m not sure if they emailed it or just posted it publicly. You can read the letter and actions here: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?e=&u=58ec226c52b307111a072d826&id=47bdbc81ce
After this, I saw their next board meeting was coming up (on 5-25-21). I decided to call into the meeting and see what they were discussing. The update on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was particularly concerning to me. They discussed their agenda and where they were in implementing it, same race teachers, and the House Bill 3979 (which seeks to ban teaching Critical Race Theory). If you do not know what CRT-Critical Race Theory is and your kids attend an Uplift school, I would highly suggest that you do some research. I did not like the way the CEO danced around the issue of CRT (Critical Race Theory) and it being taught in the schools. She seemed very concerned that her teachers could opt out of teaching it based on the bill. But the fact that she was not being transparent until asked directly if she was talking about CRT makes me believe that they are not being completely transparent with families at Uplift and not even with themselves. And as I already knew, she pointed out that the bill is light and does not necessarily prevent them from teaching CRT, just allows teachers to opt out if they choose, which she finds problematic. Of course, this bill has caused a lot of controversy and has been revised multiple times and I’m not entirely sure how it all ended. I thought it was signed by the Governor but it may be back in discussion for the special session he is calling in July. But I would keep an eye on it. As far as new board meetings, I think they happen once a month. The one in June was not as in detail as the one in May. .The board meeting agenda and minutes are posted online but they are only an outline and do not go into detail. As far as viewing previous board meetings, the only videos I could find were from Feb 2020 and before. I asked them about this and they said the videos were “wonky” and so they couldn’t put them up but would be working on it this summer. I did take screenshots of the DEI slides so if anyone is interested in viewing them, I will be happy to share them with you.
After my interactions with the MS Director, I had a conversation with her boss, Ms. Nanini, Managing Director of MS. When I asked Ms. Nanini if the new curriculum was CRT based, she told me that instead of Critical Race Theory, we would be hearing the words “culturally responsive” but they are essentially the same. She said many other things such as they were reviewing all curriculum for the new school year. After this conversation and the board meeting, I then had a conversation with Jonathan Dant, Managing Director of Curriculum and Instruction. My conversation with Mr. Dant consisted of him using the words “culturally responsive” and “multiple perspectives” over and over again. In my opinion, he was saying things that I could not logically argue with and to make everything sound good. But my gut was telling me not to trust him. He did sort of give me a list of curriculum for the new school year, but he conveniently left out the new Primary Humanities curriculum (which I already had and it came from the CEO herself-see below for website). Something else I found particularly problematic is that for Secondary, both ELA and Humanities curriculum are written in house using a variety of other sources. So there is no way for parents to go and see what the curriculum actually consists of.
Now, if you are a proponent of CRT, that is of course your prerogative and right. I have been doing research for the last few months and am still continuing to learn about it. (I am hoping to post a blog about what I have learned soon.) While I do believe there is a place for racism and oppression to be taught and talked about in schools, I do not believe this is the way to do it. I have also heard the argument that CRT is just allowing multiple perspectives of history to be taught (which I actually agree with doing). But I would argue that if you look at it, it’s really still only certain perspectives they want taught. To one group, they teach guilt and shame which leads to hating themselves and their parents. To the other group — they teach grievance and anger toward the “oppressors.” I truly believe this will only divide our nation further. Also, if you look at the history of CRT, you will notice that the proponents and “founders” are all self proclaimed Marxists. It is their desire to usher in Marxism and they will be using race to do it.
Since all this started, there have been MANY more red flags to me as the time has passed. Here are just some of them:
Take a look at all the summer assignments. They all have a common theme. I started to read one the books my daughter was sent home with but have not gotten very far. I actually was having a hard time understanding parts of it. Most assignments are about social justice, marching, protesting, oppression, etc.
Through another mom, I was able to get the name of the new Primary Humanities curriculum. I was very concerned, especially with the Kindergarten theme but you can decide for yourself. https://laviniagroup.org/insight-humanities
Uplift decided to hire a President because as they say, it “allows Uplift’s CEO of 12 years, Yasmin Bhatia, to dedicate more of her time and energy to other aspects that are critical to the success of Uplift including Uplift’s bold well-being, SEL, equity, and talent agendas.” Another Uplift mom was quick to find this blog/article the new President wrote. https://medium.com/@remy.washington/to-end-racism-we-must-start-in-the-classroom-170db7c51cdb
Another interesting fact is the founder of Uplift Education is Rosemary Perlmeter. Her title in LinkedIn is “Educational Equity”. She now leads an organization called “Teaching Trust” whose motto is “Transforming Education at its Core”.
A side note but not completely irrelevant to CRT is the LGBTQ agenda. There is a big push in this area, as well. Uplift has partnered with a group called Ntarupt for Sex Education. I was not completely happy with what I read on their site either. https://www.ntarupt.org/
I understand that this is a sensitive subject in society right now and your views may not be the same as mine. And that’s ok. But now that I know the direction that Uplift has taken and is going, I just cannot in good conscience be a part of it. As it stands now, we will definitely be pulling out our primary and high school scholars. We have made a deal with our Middle School scholar that he can finish 8th grade there but there are conditions (he has to tell us what they are teaching weekly, we would love for him to speak up if they do teach something he doesn’t agree with and we have the right to take him out at any time.) It’s really sad because there are teachers and admin that I do love at Infinity. I have spent many hours volunteering and supporting the school. I will have to step down from my position in the VIP, which I honestly have loved. I have made friends there that I will miss. So, this has been one of the hardest decisions of my and my family's life so far. It affects not only me but my children, as well. I will not lie, I am pretty depressed about the whole situation but I feel that given all the things I’ve learned in the last few months, I have no choice but to do what I feel is best for my family. If you want to talk to me further about it, I would be happy to, just let me know. If this causes you to “unfriend” me, I will be sad but I have to be honest about where I stand.
