Grand Haven Area Public Schools has embedded social justice into social studies classes using a curriculum sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center is “to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.” I highly encourage you to visit their website. It is shocking and filled with hate-filled rhetoric. Using curriculum from the Southern Poverty Law Center is akin to hiring leaders of the Black Lives Matter organization as professional development consultants.
Regardless, Grand Haven Area Public Schools incorporated the Learning for Justice lessons into the GHAPS curriculum in September 2021.
Quoting from the Learning for Justice website, “Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education offers practical strategies for accomplishing academic and social-emotional goals side by side.”
“As we confront the ongoing assaults on education and individual rights—including anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ laws, book bans, and the threat to reproductive rights—we recognize that these issues have compounded the stress at the end of the academic year. These resources provide strategies for educators, caregivers and community members to support the mental health and well-being of our nation’s youth.”
According to the teaching strategies at the Learning for Justice website, the goal is to
“Build literacy and social emotional skills while exploring meaningful texts. Unlike conventional or scripted lesson plans, these strategies allow you to select and combine vocabulary, reading, and speaking and listening activities, customizing a pathway that supports your instructional goals. Each strategy is Common Core-aligned and includes a special note about English language learners and connections to anti-bias education.”
“Many of my colleagues believe our fourth-graders are too young to hold discussions around issues of race, place, class and gender equity. Asking open-ended, higher-order, standards-based questions around these topics is much easier thanks to your work!”
Learning for Justice offers lesson plans, recommends movies and books, and has free printable posters, including this BLM poster. They offer professional development training through workshops, webinars and podcasts. They have a 68-page newsletter featuring articles glorifying BLM, diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives and PhD scholars pushing these Marxist concepts onto our youth and society. Here are a few quotes from the newsletter.
“Textbooks are embedded white supremacist structures. Brian Ford teaches U.S. history at Montclair High School in New Jersey and is part of the BLM at School curriculum team.”
“RadicalMath includes currriculum and resources to incorporate racial and social justice in math classes. You can search by math content, resource type and social justice issue.”
You can view the entire newsletter here.
Everything from Learning for Justice focuses on Identity, Injustice and Activism. It is important to understand the long-term effects of these types of teachings. I encourage you to review your child’s lessons. Know what they are being required to read, and understand the concepts of Marxism.
This is happening at GHAPS.