A teacher trainer in Cambridge, MA public schools believes we should abolish capitalism and whiteness
A teacher trainer in Cambridge, MA public schools believes we should abolish capitalism and whiteness
A peek at the equity work in the public school district right down the street from Harvard.
This article is part of Schools Exposed by the Unwoke Army, which means that everything in this article is public information that anyone can find. Help me train 10,000 parents to find this type of information.
Meet Dena Simmons.
Dena is the founder of LiberatED, which she bills as “a social and emotional learning approach to racial justice and healing. A movement. A collective. A path towards liberation.”
Dena doesn’t believe in capitalism and believes whiteness should be eradicated.
She said so in a webinar she gave with Haymarket books that has over a quarter million views. Other videos on their channel include “Learning as Rebellion: Resisting Right Wing Attacks on Higher Ed Across America” and “What is the Relevance of the Russian Revolution Today?”
“Being an abolitionist is anti-capitalism because there’s a connection between capitalism and slavery…and honestly, to me that’s whiteness. And we have to eradicate whiteness, abolish whiteness as well.”
Here is Dena saying that equity is about the “redistribution of resources so that the outcomes are different” (a fundamentally Marxist concept regarding equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity) from the CASEL Social Emotional Learning conference in 2019:
And here is Dena saying that the schools have blood on their hands because they are “seeped in whiteness” and that “white folks don’t like to be uncomfortable.”
By pure coincidence I’m sure, Dena’s organization LiberateED raises money through Act Blue, a fundraising tool for the Democratic party.
Dena Simmons is one of the people who the public schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts thought would be a perfect choice to train their teachers.
We know because they tweeted it last week.
Dena isn’t the only trainer in the Cambridge, MA Public Schools. The district holds regular training for their staff to help them mitigate their unconscious bias and become anti-racist educators.
From December 2021 - June 2022, the district held a workshop called “Becoming an Anti-Racist and Anti-Bias Educator”:
And from January - May 2022, the district held a training open to middle and high school teachers called “Intersectionality and Gender in the middle and high school classroom”:
These trainings are part of the district’s anti-racism and equity initiatives laid out on their website. Though these appear to be optional, the district specifically states that there will be “mandatory staff training and professional learning strategy on anti-racism and racial equity issues.”
I’ve sent a FOIA request into the school to get access to the training materials used in all of these trainings, so we should have more information soon.
If you’re in the Cambridge MA School District, here are some important links you should take a look at:
In 2017, the district launched the “Educator Leaders for Equity” program. From the Cambridge School District website:
Some graduates of the EL4E course have organized focused professional learning sessions in collaboration with their school Principal. Others have founded book or discussion groups, including the White Educators against Racism Employee Resource Group. As CPS works to strengthen equity-based learning expectations for all faculty, the Educator Leaders for Equity course will be a key source for content and inspiration.
Several of the district’s teachers have taken this program, including the following (they are listed by schools within the district before their names:
On that list, under CRLS at the bottom, you’ll notice Ariel Maloney. Here’s a recent tweet from @MizMaloney’s account - she’s taught a summer school class this year specifically in advocacy and social justice.
The district’s equity work appeared to ramp up following this with the Building Equity Bridges project.
In 2021, they adopted an anti-racist vision and mission statement. You can see their discussion about it here (starting around 2:38:11) with classic struggle session vibes.
The district has a fully staffed Equity Office, including a Chief Equity Officer, a Director of Equity, a Youth Advocacy Specialist, a Curriculum and Training Specialist, a Director of Family Engagement, and a Family Engagement Specialist. They have a full Equity Plan here, including plans to track their success at redistributing resources with an equity dashboard that they piloted in the Spring:
The district, in conjunction with the local teachers’ union, have segregated employee resource groups:
They have a fully outsourced system where students can anonymously report their teachers for microaggressions.
They have “Leadership Coaching Circles” to help staff become anti-racist leaders.
And yes, they’re even teaching anti-racist math at the Cambridge Public Schools. We know because Heidi Fessenden (she/her) tweeted it. Here’s the full thread, just in case she deletes it or privates her account:
So, there’s a lot going on at the Cambridge MA Public Schools that parents should be concerned about if they don’t want their children to grow up indoctrinated into a far-left progressive ideology. I’ll update you on this when the FOIA requests come back. Stay tuned!
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