LFC Comments by Brian Massie, Executive Director / February 27, 2022

Honesty, integrity and transparency are keys for good governance and an informed electorate.

We are very concerned about the rapid changes taking place in public education. There is a concerted effort to expand the public school’s role in introducing to students’ core values and beliefs that were formerly taught in the home and in the churches. Some schools are further ahead than others, but public education is being designed to indoctrinate your children.

In this article, we are going to start pulling back the curtain on what is happening at the Riverside School District. We are not sure exactly how far Riverside has gone down the path, but we can safely say that, with the help of select Board members, the Administration is moving in a direction that is counter to the wishes of the majority of the taxpayers funding the school.

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Here is an excerpt from an article in the Journal of the Ohio School Board Association. Governor DeWine made the following statement:

“Parents must know what is being taught in their schools. “Schools are stronger and kids do better when parents are involved in their child’s education.”

So exactly how transparent has the Riverside School District’s Administration and School Board been with the parents and the taxpayers that are funding their school?

Here are the Riverside School District’s Administrative Staff:

Has anyone ever heard of Riverside’s “Responsive Classroom” training?

Here is a message from Melissa Mlakar, Curriculum Director at Riverside, explaining Responsive Classroom training.

In the memo, Ms. Mlakar states that “As with any program we purchase, I review the program with the program committee – and the BOE is updated at each meeting.” [LFC has been told that the BOE has not been updated.]

We ask again, how many Riverside parents have been informed about Riverside using the “Responsive Classroom Approach”?

Should the parents have known about the “Responsive Classroom Approach” before it was purchased and implemented in the school district?

We asked Mr. Gary Platko for the amount spent to purchase the “Responsive Classroom” Training. We received the following response:

“I show the total amount paid to the Center for Responsive Schools for staff training and professional development is $126,664.00 plus an additional $20,000 outstanding purchase order. All of these expenditures were paid for using a combination of Title II-A (supporting effective instruction) and Title IV-A (student support and academic enrichment) federal grant funds.” [LFC observation: Obviously, the Federal Department of Education is promoting this agenda.]

Here is an explanation of how “equity” is created using the Responsive Classroom Approach. We refer to this as “getting the camel’s nose under the tent”, an expression that illustrates how evil works in incremental steps. It is a complete indoctrination class for teachers so that they can unlearn what they have been taught and relearn teaching methods so they can put “their new beliefs and knowledge into action”.

Please remember that “equity” is not “equality”. Public schools preach equality of opportunity, but what they really want is equality of outcome. The ultimate goal is no one stands out, no one is to left behind, there is no such thing as male and female, and “feelings” trump everything. Here is an excerpt from a Harvard University study entitled Reimagining Integration”.

“Why do we need an Equity Improvement Cycle to get diverse, equitable and truly integrated schools?”

“After centuries of exclusion and segregation, the major policy efforts in the last 60 years have focused on desegregating schools – getting a diverse set of bodies in the school buildings. These efforts have had successes and setbacks (and in many ways the country is more segregated than it was in 1954) but even when successful are not sufficient if we want equitable and truly segregated schools.”

“Many of these “desegregated” schools provide very different experiences and inequitable outcomes for students of different racial and economic backgrounds. Many are segregated inside by racialized placements into academic ‘tracks” or gifted and talented programs. Often disciplinary structures disproportionately affect students of color. Curriculum does not always represent the multiple cultures of the school.”

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LFC’s research into the proficiency scores of all nine Lake County School Districts indicates that 8 of the 9 schools are not performing at even an overall 80% proficiency scores. With less emphasis on academic teaching, we do not see how proficiency scores improve.

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Here is a website called CASEL.org. It seems to be the catalyst for the Social, Emotional Learning curriculum being installed in the Riverside School District.

LFC plans to have many more articles regarding SEL, and we will expose the school board members and school administrators that favor this radical change in direction by our public schools that are funded primarily by property taxes.

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Categories: Riverside S.D., SEL

Tags: Education