Freedom Caucus Wins CRT Lawsuit
Protecting Students from Indoctrination
Freedom Caucus Wins, Protects SC Students from Indoctrination
In September of last year, the South Carolina Freedom Caucus released a bombshell video that featured a professional consultant contracting with South Carolina schools who teaches teachers how to implement divisive Critical Race Theory and ultimately break state law.
SCFC members decided to sue both school districts (Lexington 1 and Charleston) in SC who were using the anti-racist, Critical Race Theory riddled curriculum prescribed by the consultant.
Thankfully, we won. Read our full press release below:
“(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - The South Carolina Freedom Caucus, a growing coalition of the General Assembly’s most conservative members, has successfully removed Critical Race Theory-derived curriculum from Lexington School District 1.
In a settlement agreement filed in the Lexington Court of Common Pleas on June 20, 2023, the District will end all agreements with EL Education and fully comply with all South Carolina laws regarding instruction and training for students, teachers, and other staff. EL Education signage that defaces school property across the District will also be removed.
“The terms of this settlement agreement show Lexington School District One was caught red handed peddling the Left’s pernicious, racist nonsense,” said SCFC Vice Chairman RJ May. “This is a win for the Freedom Caucus, for parents, but most importantly, this is a win for students who will no longer be subjected to radical, liberal indoctrination by the District.”
Late last year, the SCFC was provided an undercover video showing an EL Education employee describing how to circumvent a state budget proviso that prohibits the teaching of Critical Race Theory-derived ideas. The District contracted with EL Education to supply curricula and professional training. In the video, EL Education employee Tarika Sullivan inadvertently exposes how radical Leftists are infiltrating South Carolina public schools. "We have allies and we have co-conspirators," Sullivan says in the recording. She goes on to describe a co-conspirator as someone who is willing to teach the outlawed concepts "even if [they] get in trouble."
In the five minute video, Sullivan explains that her employer, EL Education, works with a number of South Carolina schools, including in Lexington One, in developing curriculum that "goes against mainstream teaching." "It's going to begin with your school leadership team before it can go to school staff," Sullivan explains. She then recommends analyzing one's "privilege," noting that what EL Education seeks to implement is "really heavy stuff" that "turns people off." Sullivan also describes the idea of teaching "counter-narratives" to the Constitution insinuating that it, and laws passed by the people's elected representatives, are inherently racist and must be challenged. "For every law there is a counter-narrative," she explains.
“Career politicians, afraid to take on the teacher unions and education establishment, gaslit parents across South Carolina when we filed this lawsuit by claiming CRT wasn’t in our classrooms,” said Freedom Caucus Chairman Adam Morgan. “Despite the naysayers, the Freedom Caucus persevered, and won. It’s time for our moderate Republican colleagues to support the conservative values the SCFC is championing. Regardless, with or without them, the Freedom Caucus will continue to fight for parents, teachers, and students."
In the Freedom Caucus’s 31-page complaint, the hardline conservatives detailed how Lexington One used taxpayer money to force Critical Race Theory-Derived Ideas on students, teachers, and staff. The Caucus points to numerous examples of the District’s instructional materials that reinforce its racist indoctrination.
For example, many District One schools use This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell. The book teaches that “if you are white...” you automatically have “internalized racial superiority.” According to the book, “[b]eing racist against white people is not a thing” and “[i]f you are white, step aside.” The District also uses Fredrick Joseph’s The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person. In the book, the author writes “WE HAVE A WHITE PEOPLE PROBLEM.” Another District’s book specifically criticizes “white teachers” as having “implicit bias” against “African American students.”
Students in the District were also forced to participate in “privilege tests.” By the end of the exercise, “privileged” students - practically all white- were at one side of the classroom and “oppressed” students-practically all minorities- were at the other.
Lexington One also sponsored, advertised, and subsidized professional development centered around Critical Race Theory-Derived Ideas and “anti-racism.” At conferences paid for by Lexington One taxpayers, teachers were taught how to “integrate DEI practices into all aspects of [their] schools...” and that “systemic oppression” continues to marginalize students.
Speakers at these conferences included Quintin R. Bostic II, Ph.D., an employee of a non-profit who recently admitted to trying to evade Georgia law by selling curriculum that teaches Critical Race Theory. Bostic did this by disguising Critical Race Theory as “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” material: “If you don’t say the word ‘critical race theory,’ you can technically teach it.” Bostic brought these techniques to the EL Education Conference that Lexington District One paid for.
The SC Freedom Caucus remains in an ongoing lawsuit with the Charleston County School District for breaking state law by teaching CRT-Derived Ideas. CCSD also uses EL Education for curriculum and professional development.”
I cannot thank you enough for fighting for truth being taught within our schools. I’m a retired teacher, and cannot believe this evil lying is going on in our schools. We all must do what we can to protect our school children and America’s freedom.
Great work!