The Hypocrisy of DEI Already on Display - From the Top: Non-Agenda Public Comment
Last month I warned the Board that ADL's No Place for Hate Program, part of our DEI Plan, was littered with Critical Race Theory lessons labeling white people as "oppressors," and that these lessons have been teaching American youth that Jews are also "white oppressors." Never did I think these problematic lessons would become so apparent on October 7, 2023.
Many have said that 10/7 was Israel's 9/11. In actual comparison, 10/7 was far worse. But when Islamic terrorists attacked America on 9/11, there was universal condemnation of the attack. After 10/7, while we expected outpourings of grief and support, we saw a surprising amount of silence from our leaders, followed by an even more shocking public display of support for the attack or the people whose government carried it out.
That silence could be found right here in CUSD, as our Superintendent, in the middle of implementing the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate Program to fight antisemitism, said absolutely nothing about the attack for a week, even as other nearby Superintendents issued strong statements condemning the attack and supporting our local Jewish students and families.
When he did finally release a statement, it was about "the devastating news of the outbreak of war," not the devastating news of the rape, torture and murder of 1400 Israeli civilians, including women and children in an attack by a terrorist group motivated by hate. It said nothing to condemn a terrorist organization so filled with hate that the Hamas Charter specifically calls for all Jews to be killed.
Then we saw this situation play out at schools and universities across the US, as youth began organizing rallies and disrupting activities and events in support of Palestine, even as hostages were still being held in Gaza and Israel was still under siege by rockets.
Why couldn't our Superintendent condemn hate? Because Critical Race Theory has convinced him that hate is okay, as long as it's against an "oppressor" like the Jews. As ADL San Diego's Anti-Bias Education page explains, we must teach students "how to unpack systemic oppression so they can think critically about and actively challenge it." In other words, students should challenge their oppressors, like the Jews. Learn more here.
I once again tried to warn the Board at the meeting. You can listen to my comment here. But it's likely going to take many more of us before they'll start to realize what our DEI program is really about, and why it needs to be stopped. I encourage you to email the Board and ask them to get rid of these controversial lessons and activities that are teaching our kids that some hate is okay. boardoftrustees@carlsbadusd.net.
CUTA Gets a Raise. Immediately Asks for Another: Agenda Item 7.2
The Carlsbad Unified Teachers Association (CUTA) sent a formal notification to the Board that it wanted to begin negotiating several terms of the 3-Year Agreement it just signed on June 22, 2023. The issues it wants to negotiate: 1) Salary Increase, 2) Class Size "Challenges," and 3) Teacher Prep Time.
As a quick background, in the June 2023 3-Year Agreement, CUTA received a 5% "retroactive" raise - meaning their salaries from July 1, 2022 would be adjusted upward by 5%, giving them essentially a 5% bonus and an ongoing increase. According to CUTA's own statement to its members, this made CUSD teachers the highest paid of any unified district in North County. The average CUSD teacher now makes over $90,000/yr.
As further background, in June 2022, CUTA had also negotiated a 3% retroactive raise to 2021, a second 3% raise for 2022, and a third 3% raise for 2023.
If you're wondering why the highest paid teachers in North County already want another raise, your guess is as good as mine. If you're wondering what the benefit is to CUSD and its students in signing a 3-year Agreement that allows CUTA to immediately begin renegotiating the agreement a few months later, you might be starting to figure out why public education is such a mess.
It's likely that CUTA was unhappy that the 3-Year Agreement didn't have the same future raises of 5% this year and 5% next year that their 2022 Agreement had. Why didn't CUTA get those ongoing 5% raises? Although you wouldn't know it from looking at the current CUSD budget projections, it's likely the Superintendent and his Cabinet know that revenue is about to begin declining, and that locking teachers into large raises is going to put us deep in the red next year. CUTA no doubt knows this, too. With enrollment declining and massive budget deficits predicted for years to come, this is their last chance to lock in guaranteed raises before it becomes extremely unpopular to ask for a raise when student services start getting cut.