Why were Fort Worth ESL teachers told ‘lesson planning is a political act’ in training session?

The Fort Worth school district is once again pushing critical race theory and gender theory as elements for teacher training.

A recent training session for ESL teachers, led by educational consultant Jose Medina, included a document called “Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in an ESL Setting,” according to a copy provided by a participant.

The packet states on page 9 that “lesson planning is a political act: we either maintain or chip away at systems of oppression with each lesson we plan.” It even says the framework should include “anti-bias/anti-racism work.”

In a nutshell, it trains teachers on how to implement critical race theory in the classroom. (Disclosure: I have helped organize protests of the district’s equity policies.)

On page 25, teachers are told to “highlight the differences as opportunities to connect, rather than obstacles to overcome; this includes amplifying voices of the marginalized communities and working actively to destroy systems of oppression.”

The packet includes examples of “Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: in Action,” showing posters that say “No one is illegal on stolen land” and pictures of trans and gender fluidity rhetoric.

Medina had the teachers review his book “Boys Don’t Cry,” which tells the story of a boy expressing his feminine side and coming out as gay. The book promotes boys playing with dolls and wearing pink dresses.

Teachers were also given two other Medina books; one, called “Family,” features an image portraying a Border Patrol agent as a bad guy.

Why did the school district hire this consultant? How much of our taxpayer’s money was used to train teachers in wokeness?

While FWISD’s student performance continues to languish and teachers and students continue to leave en masse, is this even a wise investment? The district has only 22% of Black students and 33% of Hispanic students reading at grade level, while the equity director makes $202,000 a year in a department with a $2.2 million budget. Woke bureaucrats get paid while minority students get poorer in skills. Sounds like a scam.

District officials will continue to deny that critical theory on race and gender is present in classrooms. But if that’s true, why not remove the equity department and woke teacher training? FWISD has had enough counterproductive woke rhetoric that does not help students recover from the COVID-19 learning loss.

Schools need to be preparing the workforce of the future. Employers do not care about woke buzzwords or if a student memorized Ibram X. Kendi’s “anti-racist” books. They care if they can be competent in the workforce.

With trustee Jacinto Ramos resigning in May and Superintendent Kent Scribner officially leaving in late August, it’s time for Fort Worth ISD to eliminate the equity department and any other form of wokeness that pushes racial division and critical gender ideology. We cannot continue with policies and departments that fail to deliver results other than controversy.

FWISD needs to stop playing politics and start focusing on improving student performance. FWISD has seen thousands of students leave as well as many teachers. And many more will leave if the district continues to distract itself with useless political activism like this training.

Carlos Turcios is a political science major at the University of Texas at Arlington and a Tarrant County Republican precinct chairman. He is a leader of a group that has protested Fort Worth ISD equity policies.