Seattle scraps gifted and talented school programs because they supposedly had too many white and Asian students



Seattle Public Schools is effectively killing off its gifted and talented program, caving to leftists in and outside the district who have long complained about the racial demographics of the Highly Capable Cohort program, which evidently failed to satisfy their utopian expectations.

Forsaking quality and meritocracy, SPS has indicated it will instead pursue an alternative that will supposedly be "more inclusive, equitable, and culturally sensitive."

Background

State law has long required that Washington schools provide and maintain programs "for highly capable students."

Qualifying students are those "who perform or show potential for performing at significantly advanced academic levels when compared with others of their age, experiences, or environments. Outstanding abilities are seen within students' general intellectual aptitudes, specific academic abilities, and/or creative productivities within a specific domain."

By virtue of highly capable students of any race being academically superior to other students, they are necessarily unequal.

The Seattle Times reported that as of last year, the HCC comprised roughly 5,700 students. This cohort is made up of those who scored in the top 2% on standardized exams.

Unsurprisingly, recognition of this inequality has been a sore point for leftists who figure that education ought not only to standardize generations of children by their low standards but also to produce so-called equitable outcomes.

Former SPS superintendent Denis Juneau called for dismantling the HCC program in 2019, claiming, "It is very [racially] disproportionate."

The identitarian NAACP Youth Council and other leftist groups have championed the elimination of the program in the years since, claiming it was "built upon a foundation of white supremacy and constructed with the intent to perpetuate the segregation of schools on the basis of race and socioeconomic status."

The NAACP Youth Council noted that in the 2020-2021 school year, only 1.8% of the district's 8,130 black students, then amounting to 15% of the student body, were eligible for the HCC. 13.4% of Asian students and 63.2% of white students, who altogether accounted for 13.1% and 45.6% of the overall student body, respectively, were eligible. 16.2% of mixed-race students and 5.25% of Hispanics were eligible.

In the 2022-2023 school year, the Seattle Times indicated that 52% of HCC students at SPS were white, 16% were Asian, and 3.4% were black.

"We, the NAACP Youth Council, want the HCC program abolished from SPS," wrote the identitarians. "Every student deserves an equitable and anti-racist education that recognizes their brilliance. A program built to discriminate against students has no room for fixing."

Indistinction

SPS began phasing out HCC schools in 2021. All will apparently be eliminated by 2027. In the way of HCC institutions affiliated with the district, there are presently three elementary schools, five middle schools, and three high schools.

The next step in the war on excellence and distinction will be the implementation of the so-called "Highly Capable Neighborhood School Model" in every school beginning in September 2024.

Under this model, students of all abilities will be lumped into the same classroom. Teachers will then reportedly be tasked with creating individualized learning plans for each of their 20 to 30 students.

According to SPS, "All teachers will provide teaching and learning that is delivered with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and differentiated to meet the needs of students within their grade level. The approach includes three tiers of service for students depending on individual needs, delivered in a way that honors individual cultures and backgrounds."

While all students will participate in Tier 1 learning, individuals flagged as needing more advanced or involved learning will be awarded Tier 2 services. After participating in Tier 1 and Tier 2 services, students, now assessed yearly, found still needing "something in addition to meet their complex needs," will receive Tier 3 services.

Critics suspect that SPS will ultimately bungle the implementation of its new scheme, especially because its $105 million deficit means it lacks the funds to train teachers on how to help highly capable students, reported the Seattle Times.

Teachers have complained anonymously to KOMO-TV that the district has provided teachers with no extra time, aid in the classroom, curricular help, or compensation to meet the unique needs of every student in a single classroom.

"I was a classroom teacher for 14 years. It's really hard to provide services to students when you have a group of kindergartners learning phonics and then you have a kindergarten[er] that's like fluently reading Harry Potter," said Reby Parsley, a gifted education specialist with the Washington Association of Educators of the Talented and Gifted.

"It seems to me that kids on maybe both extremes are going to be underserved," Erika Ruberry, a parent of a second-grader at a HCC elementary, told the Times.

Karen Stukovsky, a mother who has three kids at HCC schools, said, "You have some kids who can barely read and some kids who are reading 'Harry Potter' in first grade or kindergarten. How are you going to not only get those kids up to grade level and also challenge those kids who are already way above grade level?"

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'Educational malpractice': Seattle English students allegedly taught a love for reading and writing is 'white supremacy'



Tema Okun, a white Oberlin College graduate from North Carolina, has spent the last three decades suggesting that Western civilization and its distinguishing features are racist. According to the greying leftist, objectivity, binary thinking, and individuality are "characteristics of white supremacy culture."

The Gaza ceasefire advocate's feverish accusations, first published in 1999, have been reprinted countless times and promoted by once-serious institutions and universities across the country.

Conservative radio host Jason Rantz of KTTH has obtained possible evidence that Seattle Public Schools is now subjecting English students to Okun's racist ravings.

Okun racializes quality and competence

Okun, plagued by apparent feelings of inadequacy and "exasperation," attempted in the late 1990s to draft a list of "characteristics of white supremacy culture" she perceived to be "prevalent in our culture and institutions."

The leftist determined that various effective beliefs, behaviors, and modes of thinking — including objectivity, a sense of right and wrong, and individuality — were "damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being pro-actively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking."

A sense of urgency is supposedly racist, for example, because it "makes it difficult to take time to be inclusive, encourage democratic and / or thoughtful decision-making, to think long-term, to consider consequences." Even worse, a sense of urgency "frequently results in sacrificing potential allies for quick or highly visible results."

Paternalism, by which Okun apparently meant decisive leadership, is a characteristic of white supremacy because "those with power think they are capable of making decisions for and in the interests of those without power."

"Either/or thinking" is racist because it is "closely linked to perfectionism," "results in trying to simplify complex things," and "creates conflict and increases sense of urgency."

Okun also figures individualism to be a characteristic of white supremacy because it promotes a "desire for individual recognition and credit" and "creates a lack of accountability, as the organization values those who can get things done on their own without needing supervision or guidance."

Objectivity is another such white supremacist characteristic because it requires people to think in a logical fashion and allegedly corresponds with "the belief that emotions are inherently destructive, irrational, and should not play a role in decision-making or group process."

Okun notes on her blog that "white supremacy culture is inextricably linked to all the other oppressions - capitalism, sexism, class and gender oppression, ableism, ageism, Christian hegemony - these and more are all interconnected and intersected and stirred together in a toxic brew[.] ... This brew is a cancer, a disease, an addiction, an infliction and it infects everything with and without our awareness."

The madness continues to spread

Seattle Public Schools has made no secret of its identitarian leanings, noting in its 2019-2024 strategic plan that it is focused on "ensuring racial equity in our educational system, unapologetically address[ing] the needs of students of color who are further from educational justice, and work[ing] to undo the legacies of racism in our educational system."

To this end, SPS appears to be singularly focused on helping one group of students.

"By focusing on students of color who are furthest from educational justice, especially African American males, we will make the greatest progress toward our collective vision," says the strategic plan. "We believe that an intentional focus on African American males will ultimately benefit every student."

Accommodation of black male students apparently entails divorcing them from desirable traits and convincing them that such traits are racist.

A concerned father told Rantz that students in a class on world literature and composition were given a handout with definitions of the "9 characteristics of white supremacy" as part of "Black Lives Matter at School Week," which previously ran from late January to early February.

The English students were apparently told that "Worship of the Written Word" — one of Okun's proposed characteristics of white supremacy — entails "honoring only what is written and even then only what is written to a narrow standard, full of misinformation and lies. An erasure of the wide range of ways we communicate with each other."

An updated and textual definition of Okun's white supremacy characteristic, circulated by the University of Michigan, indicates that the worship of the written word is especially problematic because it corresponds with an "inability or refusal to acknowledge information that is shared through stories, embodied knowing, intuition and the wide range of ways that we individually and collectively learn and know."

The other eight characteristics named on the handout, all lifted from Okun's decades-old article, are as follows: objectivity; individualism; right to comfort; perfectionism; denial and defensiveness; paternalism; either/or and the binary; and fear.

The list is "incoherent and cannot stand any sort of reasoned analysis," added the father. "How is a 15-year-old kid supposed to object in class when 'denial and defensiveness' is itself a characteristic of white supremacy? This is truly educational malpractice."

KTTH indicated that SPS declined to provide comment.

"I feel bad for any students who actually internalize stuff like this, as it is setting them up for failure," the father, who chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told Rantz. "My problem with this curriculum is that this is supposed to be a writing and literature class, and lessons like these do nothing to help my kid become a better writer."

"I'm sure Lincoln administration will point to the high ELA proficiency scores, but the high proportion of HCC [highly capable] kids (40% of the student body) is a big factor," added the concerned dad. "With so many smart, hardworking kids (white supremacists) it's easy to support these luxury beliefs, but system-wide, only 63% of kids are proficient in English. Is this really the best use of class time?"

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You Won’t Believe The Leftist Nonsense Public School Teachers Inject Into Your Kid’s Brain

Rogue and extreme leftist teachers face no ramifications and even get support from administrators and the district’s school board members.

HS student answers 'true' that 'only women can get pregnant,' 'all men have penises.' Teacher marks his answers incorrect.



A Seattle high school student on a recent quiz answered "true" that "only women can get pregnant" and "all men have penises" — but his teacher marked his answers as incorrect and ultimately gave the student an F grade on the quiz, KTTH-AM reported.

What are the details?

Seattle Public Schools told KOMO-TV the quiz was given two weeks ago at Chief Sealth International High School. KTTH said the quiz — “Understanding Gender vs. Sex" — was part of a 10th-grade Ethnic Studies World History class.

KTTH said the student’s mother wrote to the radio show of conservative commentator Jason Rantz expressing “frustration and anger" over her son's answers being marked incorrect but that her concerns conveyed to the school were “met with silence.”

“I keep trying to wrap my head around how it is legal to teach inaccurate information and force students to answer against their beliefs or receive negative scores,” the mother — who asked for anonymity for fear her son would face retribution — told "The Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH.

More from the station:

The mom told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH that she worries about the school routinely allowing teachers to bring political beliefs into the classroom. The gender identity issue is just one example. She also said her child, who is white, routinely faces scrutiny for his skin color and so-called privilege.

She said various teachers have called her son, “f****d and racist,” a “product of the patriarchy that teaches young boys not to care about anything,” and that “he shouldn’t use the term straight to identify as because it's offensive.”

What did the school district have to say?

KTTH said a Seattle Public Schools spokesperson defended the quiz as “inclusive" and argued that it was appropriate for an Ethnic Studies course.

“Seattle Public Schools is dedicated to establishing inclusive environments that allow exploration of contemporary issues, specifically examining the impacts of power systems such as racism and patriarchy,” the spokesperson told "The Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH. “This commitment extends to fostering welcoming and inclusive settings where students, staff, and families have the freedom to express their authentic selves.”

Mom 'proud' of her son

The mother told the station she's “proud" of her son "because he refused to answer against his beliefs (which are medically and scientifically accurate, or at least used to be).”

The district added to KTTH that the student's the failing grade on the quiz won’t be used against his overall grade in the class.

How are folks reacting?

It appears commenters are coming out in force, heading straight to the X account for Seattle Public Schools and making their opinions known right under an unrelated district post.

"Men can’t get pregnant," Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok responded.

Others echoed that sentiment:

  • "Men can’t get pregnant," another user said. "Fail me if you can."
  • "Stop the indoctrination and teach," another commenter noted. "If you believe a man can get pregnant, you should not be teaching anything."
  • "Any physician can tell you the student’s answers were technically correct despite your teacher’s fantastical, but scientifically inaccurate beliefs," another user declared. "Men and women are adult human males and females, respectively. No matter how much you wish to hijack the nomenclature, that fact remains. Men are born with penises and women are born with vaginas, unless they’ve surgically transitioned, but even still, their new genitals are not genuine penises or vaginas. Less than 1% of births have congenitally ambiguous genitalia. Pregnancy is not a social construct. Idc what gender the patient aligns with. Medically they’re female, and presumably an adult, thus a 'woman.' The truth is the truth, and you can’t change that. I don’t care who the truth offends."

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Seattle parents finally upset that district booted police from schools after students are threatened with an AR-15



Parents at a Seattle-area high school are furious that school district officials kicked police out of schools last year now that a student reportedly threatened classmates with an AR-15.

Seattle Public Schools suspended its district-wide school resource officer program in June 2020 due to the "current national events" that unfolded in the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and subsequent police brutality protests.

What are the details?

KOMO-TV reported that an unnamed female student threatened students with an AR-15 in the parking lot at Ingraham High School last week.

Students were said to be coming back from lunch break when a male and a female were seen screaming at a group of students in the parking lot from inside a vehicle.

The girl, one witness said, had an AR-15 in her hands.

The witness' parent told KOMO, "The girl that [sic] was in the passenger seat clicked in and loaded in a magazine into the AR-15."

The witness said that the girl handed over the loaded rifle to the male driver, who then reportedly pointed the gun at the group of students in the lot and threatened to kill them.

“It was the middle of the day and somebody decided to, who knows," the parent told the station.

What is being said about this?

In a statement to the school community, Principal Martin Floe said that the two suspects were not Ingraham students.

His statement said:

An incident occurred yesterday at Ingraham High School that caused concern that I want to share with you.Around 2:45 p.m., students reported interacting with two people in a vehicle on the periphery of Ingraham property. The students also reported seeing a weapon, believed to be a firearm. The driver then briefly drove into the visitor parking lot on the west side of campus and then turned into the student parking lot. Neither of the occupants are believed to be Ingraham students.As soon as administration learned of the situation, we alerted the district's Safety & Security team, and we called 9-1-1. The incident is now under investigation by the Seattle Police Department.Thank you to our students for reporting this matter. We will continue to work to resolve this as the safety of our students, staff and school community is our top priority. We have been, and will continue to be, a school community where everyone feels safe, respected, and engaged.

Authorities confirmed that an incident took place at the school and said it was a "dispute between two groups of juveniles."

What else?

One parent told the station that the incident has prompted them to consider moving their family out of the area.

“Hearing that kids are on the property with guns, I want to move my kid away from this region as quickly as possible," the unnamed parent admitted.

Another added that concerned parents ought to be furious with the district.

"You should flip out," the parent insisted. "You should be outraged. You should be pissed out of your brain."

Another parent added, "Seattle Public Schools has become less and less about education and more about what's the daily 'popular' political view. The same taxpayer funded 'for the people' institution that banned police because of false BLM narratives, had to call the police after armed trespassers entered school property at least twice. Seattle public schools prioritizes a socialist narrative over the education and public safety of our children."

(H/T: The Police Tribune)