Edina’s Superintendent Misrepresented Facts to Civil Rights Commission

As you know if you have followed the controversy over the Edina school district’s penchant for left-wing indoctrination, the district’s bullying and intimidation of nonconforming students, parents and teachers was severe enough to draw an inquiry from a Commissioner of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, who was concerned that Edina’s schools are violating the civil rights of non-leftist students.

Superintendent John Schultz responded to Commissioner Peter Kirsanow’s letter on September 21. In that response, Schultz said that some of the parents and students who were quoted in posts on this web site said things that were not correct. This is Schultz’s letter:

Edina Public School Response by John Hinderaker on Scribd

Schultz wrote:

We do not offer a class called “Race, Racism and Whiteness;” instead, the class is called “Race, Culture and Ethnicity.”

I don’t know whether Schultz’s statement was a deliberate misrepresentation or an honest mistake, but he was wrong. The parent who wrote to us said:

During Edina’s “May Term,” our child had no choice but to take a class called “Race, Racism and Whiteness” as all other classes were full. The name alone says it all. It was in this class that the teacher, while reading a poem, aloud, came to a word, stopped, and said that the word she was about to say next made her feel physically ill – just by saying it. The word was Police.

This was the May Term For All Daily Schedule for the 2016-2017 school year at Edina High School. Note the 17th class offered in the Split Lunch slot: “Race, Racism and Whiteness.” Click to enlarge:

So our correspondent was right, and Dr. Schultz was wrong. The point would be trivial–the course title was not essential to the point the Edina parent made–but for the fact that defenders of the status quo have repeatedly cited Schultz’s claim on social media to impugn the honesty of the many parents, students and teachers who have complained about the oppressive regime in the Edina schools.

So it is worth noting that those who defend bullying in the public schools have been proved wrong.