AIM Investigates: Cincinnati educators will teach CRT, ‘just call it something else’
January 23, 2023
Columbus isn’t the only part of Ohio where schools are willing to deceive parents to force-feed Critical Race Theory to students. Accuracy in Media’s investigators found similarly deceptive school officials in the Cincinnati area as well, and they got it all on camera.
“We’ll just call it something else,” Assistant Principal of Mason Early Childhood Center Vivian Alvarez was captured telling AIM’s investigators on a hidden camera. The school is “still going to do the same work,” she added.
“We’ll find a way,” said David Traubert, the curriculum manager of social studies at Cincinnati Public Schools.
These educators were referencing an effort by Ohio Republicans to pass a bill in the state legislature that would prohibit “teaching or providing training that promotes or endorses divisive or inherently racist concepts,” otherwise known as CRT.
House Bill 616, which was compared to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act and smeared as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill by mainstream media, ultimately did not advance in the legislature. According to these school officials, it wouldn’t have mattered if it did.
Alvarez told AIM’s investigators that the measure didn’t worry her. Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) “can pass it just like anything else that he passes,” she said. “But it’s up to the local government.”
“We will be just as like covert in our wording,” Traubert said.
“We don’t have the 1619 Project as a part of our curriculum officially, but it is referenced as a resource in several places,” he told investigators.
Traubert further touted that controversial author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is on the school’s “recommended reading list,” noting that other districts have explicitly warned not to include his books.
According to Alverez, “there’s enough for us to not call it that,” even if HB 616 had passed and been enacted into law.
Wyoming City Schools Superintendent Tim Weber assured AIM’s investigators that “We do move forward with” social justice teaching and antiracism education. However, “As the superintendent, I do choose words wisely,” he explained.
He does so “to make sure that we’re able to move forward. I want to make sure that we’re moving forward with the right frame of mind in reference and don’t want to be stopped at the most important work that we do.”
The educators further revealed to AIM’s investigators some of the strategies they employ to sneak social justice and CRT into their schools.
Alvarez said that her school uses Responsive Classroom, which is a Social-Emotional Learning program. SEL has been previously discovered by AIM as a medium for controversial education in classrooms across the country.
“They have tied social justice – we don’t call it that – but we’ve tied social justice very much into that,” she said.
“We have a whole department of positive school culture and Social-Emotional Learning, the Social-Emotional Learning standards that go K-12 have also been cross-blocked with our [English Language Arts] curriculum,” Traubert said.
Asked whether SEL is a way that educators can get social justice and antiracism teaching to students, he said it is. Additionally, he said that SEL usually makes its way to students through language arts programs, when asked by AIM’s investigators.
Weber revealed that “belonging” is a “keyword that we focus on” in order to talk about social justice without setting off alarm bells to parents.
These educators, similar to those in Columbus, Ohio, have plans at the ready if CRT is targeted. They aren’t planning to stop indoctrinating students with social justice teaching anytime soon.
A new solution may be available for concerned parents. This month, Ohio Sen. Sandra O’Brien introduced the Enact the Parent Educational Freedom Act. SB11 seeks to greatly expand school choice in the state.
If enacted, the measure would expand eligibility for existing Educational Choice scholarships. It would also increase the income tax credit available to cover homeschooling expenses.
A bill like this one would make school choice a possibility for every family in Ohio, not just those with enough money to put their children in private schools. Giving families the fiscally feasible options of homeschooling and private education would force Ohio’s public schools to drop the agenda if they want to keep enrollment rates up.
To see the first part of our investigation in Ohio, click here to read.
These investigations have made it clearer than ever that the only solution is school choice. Click here to join us in our fight. With one click, you can tell your elected officials to promote school choice in your state.