COVID dollars to keep schools open also spent on CRT-themed initiatives

Schools received $130 billion in supplementary funding from the Biden administration to help them safely reopen, but a review of funding applications shows states allocated some of those dollars for Critical Race Theory-themed initiatives, reports Luke Rosiak at the Daily Wire.

On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, he told Americans that delivering $130 billion in supplementary funding to schools through his American Rescue Plan (ARP) would “provide schools the resources they need to reopen safely.”

“We can [open schools] if we give school districts, communities, and states the clear guidance they need as well as the resources they will need,” he said.
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They got the money. Yet this month, schools in numerous districts will be closed, citing an inability to deal with the Omicron variant, despite receiving money that could have gone towards mitigation, protection, and preventative measures. That, it turns out, could be in part due to a bait-and-switch, with money passed into law under the guise of public health being used for racial ideology instead.
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A review of the proposals submitted by states and approved by the federal government shows that their plans for supposed coronavirus money are littered with CRT-infused ideas.

Minnesota’s ARP template included COVID-related spending but also stated the funds would go toward addressing “racial bias,” “racial stressors,” and “social inequities” and promoting “gender identities.”

Milwaukee allocated $24 million of its ARP money to “Social Emotional Learning,” which included $100,000 for “Anti-Racism and Bias Professional Development.”

Michigan’s plan listed a Culturally Responsive School Leadership Institute Academies (CRSLIA) program that “challenges Whiteness and hegemonic epistemologies in school.”

(You can read about examples in other states here.)

Given that the money from the Biden administration is spread out over five years, Rosiak concludes it appears “that it was not only intended to directly address coronavirus.”

Several Minnesota school districts have shifted to online learning for various chunks of January, according to Burbio, an online platform that tracks K-12 school openings across the country.