District Ridiculed For Spending $800K To Pay For Anti-Bias Training And Surveys
The Clark county school district is being ridiculed for spending a hefty amount of funds on anti-bias training and various social surveys.
Public schools are hemorrhaging students as certain groups of parents leave the system upset with serious concerns. Topics on race, identity and other social justice movements are perpetually being implemented into school standards, and some parents disagree with these initiatives. In the Clark county school district, this may be what is driving some families away as well.
During the 2021-2022 school year, the Las Vegas, Nevada school system spent nearly $800,000 of the Clark county school district’s budget on anti-bias training for staff and students, along with a plethora of surveys. This finding was reported to Fox News via the parental rights organization, Parents Defending Education. The grassroots, conservative-founded nonprofit advocates for parents to rid schools of alleged indoctrination, and representatives lambasted the district for spending so much money on “pet projects” rather than endeavors to catch students up on learning.
Parents Defending Education obtained documentation that details how the Clark country school district contracted Panorama Education with the funds. Leaning left, the education servicing company that offers schools various educational insights is often criticized by conservatives for providing schools with alleged radical ideology. $785,999 was said to be spent to produce and distribute surveys, and offer analysis and reporting. Additionally, the documents state that the district will pay the company another $75,000 over the next three years for anti-bias training.
Some of the questionnaires provided to students and educators asked students how they got along with those who were different from them. Another asked them how “connected” they were to adults in the school. How exactly the Clark county school district uses the responses from these surveys to better student success, is unclear
The funds allocated to create anti-bias training for both teachers and students included a program titled “No Place for Hate.” This training uses current events to elevate critical thinking on topics of diversity, bias, and social justice. However, it is likely ridiculed by some for its inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues, and a sense to promote the teaching of this topic within Clark county school district classrooms.
The founder and current president of Parents Defending Education, Nicole Neily, took attention to the spending within the Clark county school district herself. She ridiculed the board’s decision to funnel money into these pieces of training. She called out leaders for choosing to fund “social issues” over core academic needs. Additionally, she pointed out how far behind students in the district are lagging due to learning loss suffered during the pandemic.
Math and reading proficiency rates are dismal throughout Clark county school district. Compared with the 2018-2019 school year, students’ proficiency in English dropped up to 16%, depending on the grade level. Math proficiency dropped far worse, with rates dipping up to 24% lower in comparison.
While the parental advocacy group continues to call out the Clark county school district as funding politically aligned measures over those to raise achievement, the report fails to depict how money for academic programs has been comparatively spent. Regardless, many families are against these types of anti-discrimination initiatives, as students all across the nation continue to fall further and further behind academic standards.
