News/Commentary

‘Political retaliation’: San Fran teacher who exposed ‘Woke Kindergarten’ program put on leave

February 11, 2024 | | Print Article

The San Francisco teacher who raised red flags after his school district spent a quarter-of-a-million dollars to train its elementary school teachers how to be “anti-racist” has been placed on administrative leave.

As BizPac Review reported, two years ago, Glassbrook Elementary School paid $250,000 in federal grant money to Woke Kindergarten, a company that indoctrinates children in radically far-left, racial essentialist propaganda.

The goal was “to train teachers to confront white supremacy, disrupt racism and oppression and remove those barriers to learning,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The program even includes a “woke word of the day” to teach the “language of the [so-called] resistance” to children.

The result? English and math scores plummeted, “with less than 4% of students proficient in math and just under 12% at grade level in English — a decline of about 4 percentage points in each category,” The Chronicle revealed.

The national outrage came fast and furious, and, according to district spokesperson Michael Bazeley, it’s “taken its toll.”

The school and district have received dozens of “threatening and racist” messages, Bazely told The Chronicle.

“I don’t think any teacher or staff member wakes up expecting to be dragged through the mud of the national media,” he said. “They’ve been very resilient, but it has taken its toll.”

Awashed in the national spotlight, the district quickly took action: It suspended the teacher who dared to speak out.

The Hayward Unified School District teacher who initially spoke to The Chronicle about his concerns, Tiger Craven-Neeley, “said district officials summoned him to a video conference Thursday afternoon and instructed him to turn in his keys and laptop and not return to his classroom at Glassbrook Elementary until further notice,” the San Francisco Chronicle now reports. “They did not give any specifics as to why he was placed on paid leave, other than to say it was over ‘allegations of unprofessional conduct,’ Craven-Neeley said.”

According to the outlet: “The suspension came less than a day after a divisive staff meeting at the school, which included conversations about the Woke Kindergarten program, the media coverage of it and Craven-Neeley’s participation in the media coverage.”

It’s a clear case of “retaliation,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson stated on X.

“Retaliation for questioning an insane program that is actively harming children,” he wrote. “Upside down.”

Others agreed.

“Political retaliation is fine,” one user noted, “if committed by liberals.”

“Glad we’ve found the real villain here,” quipped another.

When the story first broke, a district spokesperson claimed the elementary school was off the state watchlist and attendance and suspension rates were improving. The Chronicle informed the spokesperson that “the school was not only still on the list but also had dropped to a lower level,” leading some to wonder if “the district spokesperson who lied about the district being off the state achievement watchlist also placed on leave?”

“This is an excellent question,” replied literacy advocate Karen Vaites.

Craven-Neeley, said one user, made a rookie “mistake”: “His mistake was embarrassing people who insist this sort of dumbassery doesn’t exist.”

Melissa Fine
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