Advisory Board Calls On Virginia School District To Dismiss Teachers Who Criticize The District’s Equity Training

An advisory board linked to Virginia’s Loudoun County Public School district (LCPS) demanded that teachers be dismissed if they criticize the district’s equity training inspired by critical race theory. 

Kiara Jennings, who leads LCPS’ Minority Student Achievement Advisory Council (MSAAC), emailed the district’s Superintendent, School Board Chair, Equity Committee, and the NAACP asking that teachers not be allowed to speak out against diversity training, even in private feedback surveys. 

According to a copy of the email obtained by The Daily Wire, Jennings said that negative feedback “should not be tolerated by anyone employed” by the school district. 

The email reads: 

I was disheartened to see so much hate and vitriol centered around something that is meant to bring about inclusiveness and equity! 

While much of the push back came from parents and other community members, from what I understand there was also a great deal of negative feedback from LCPS teachers. That simply cannot and should not be tolerated by anyone employed by LCPS! 

If our teachers and staff cannot be open and willing to learn how to be culturally competent then they do not need to be in the classrooms any longer as they will only hinder the process and most importantly cause irreparable harm to the vulnerable hearts and minds of our students.

The MSAAC group made headlines after it vowed to “silence the opposition” on social media. 

“There is strength in numbers and we believe wholeheartedly, that united, we can and will silence the opposition,” the body wrote on Facebook and Twitter. “We ask that you please support our call to action by engaging in these 5 small, but impactful actions to help us in our mission of Advancing Equity Through Action!” 

The MSAAC email eerily mimics a proposed speech code that would have prohibited teachers from criticizing the school board’s racial-equity plan.

A draft of the proposed speech code would have banned school teachers from criticizing the district’s “commitment to action-oriented equity practices” in all forms of public and personal communication. The speech code was hidden inside of a “professional conduct” policy proposal, which would have prohibited behavior that undermines “the views, positions, goals, policies, or public statements of the Loudoun County School Board or its superintendent.” 

The district only opted to revise the policy after the district’s top teachers union, Loudoun Education Association, said they were concerned with the speech code. Sandy Sullivan, the president of the union, told the Washington Free Beacon that teachers reached out to her concerned about the speech policy. 

“Anything that is going to inhibit the speech of people freely expressing themselves in an appropriate manner … concerns us,” Sullivan said. “We want employees to make sure that they can be heard.” 

The MSAAC email also calls on the district to hire another equity consultant. 

“MSAAC also strongly recommends bringing in an equity consultant as this is a heavy lift and we want to get it right this time,” the email reads. “LCPS has missed the mark in this area time and time again and now we are uniquely positioned to stand tall on the right side of history and let hate know it has no place in our community schools.” 

LCPS has spent $422,500 in taxpayer funds between 2018-2020 on equity consultants and diversity training inspired by critical race theory, which claims racism is inherent in nearly every aspect of America. 

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