Leftwing, nonbinary activist Akiea ‘Ki’ Gross runs a for-profit organization known as Woke Kindergarten, which has created an anti-American program for elementary school students. Glassbrook Elementary School, which is located in the San Francisco Bay area, spent $250,000 of money it had received from the federal government on this outrageous program of indoctrination. The money should have been used for its intended purpose, which was to improve its students’ proficiency in basic skills. The school administration claimed that the woke program would help to accomplish that objective, but it failed miserably. Math and reading scores have plummeted.
Akiea ‘Ki’ Gross demonstrated how far left she is with her posts on social media, such as “I believe Israel has no right to exist” and “I believe the United States has no right to exist.” She also posted, “I believe every settler colony who has committed genocide against native peoples has no right to exist.” Nevertheless (or perhaps because of it), the Glassbrook Elementary School administration decided to engage this nihilist’s far left organization.
“We are in favor 100% of abolishing systems of oppression where they hold our students back,” Hayward Superintendent Jason Reimann said. He was trying to justify why engaging Woke Kindergarten to add even more woke indoctrination into the school’s already woke curriculum was a good thing, including teaching young impressionable students the “language of the resistance.”
It was only when a nationwide backlash arose after a teacher at the school blew the whistle on the program that the school finally terminated its contract with Woke Kindergarten. But this did not save the teacher who exposed the school’s duplicity, and claimed the primary purpose of the program was to “disrupt whiteness,” from being placed on administrative leave. The reason given for this disciplinary action ostensibly revolved around “allegations of unprofessional conduct.” But it sure sounds more like an act of blatant retaliation against this teacher who would not remain silent.
The spokesperson for Glassbrook Elementary School claimed that the school decided to terminate its contract with Woke Kindergarten after becoming aware of certain “statements by Woke Kindergarten staff” that “do not align with the values of the district and those of many of our community members.” This excuse does not pass the most rudimentary smell test.
The real reason the school terminated its contract with Woke Kindergarten no doubt was its desperate attempt at damage control after being exposed for misusing federal funds meant to improve students’ learning to fund its indoctrination program instead.
Woke Kindergarten’s website does not mince words in describing what it is all about. The website states its mission as “supporting children, families, educators and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-black and queer and trans liberation.”
One of Woke Kindergarten’s texts featured on its website is entitled “Woke Awakenings,” which posts the question: “i (sic) wonder…if we abolished the police, what else could we do to keep the world safe?”
Then there is this doozy: “i wonder…if we eradicate borders, how might we build our communities to include and support neighbors from all over the world?”
And there is this one: “i wonder…if every military in the world was defunded and abolished, how could we use that money for care instead?”
The Glassbrook Elementary School administrators must have known exactly who they decided to work with and the values that Woke Kindergarten stands for. The school administration’s values, as reflected in the district superintendent’s statement in favor of “abolishing systems of oppression where they hold our students back” meshes very well with Woke Kindergarten’s and its leader Akiea ‘Ki’ Gross’s values.
A tiger never changes its stripes. While doing damage control, the Hayward School District is still defending Woke Kindergarten, claiming that its work has been mischaracterized. Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) spokesman Michael Bazeley proclaimed: “Anti-bias/Anti-racist teaching, restorative practices, multi-language learning, literacy and mathematics will remain a focus for Glassbrook, building on the work that school has undertaken over the past several years.”
The school district has posted what it calls “Social Justice Standards.” A webpage entitled “LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Elementary Schools” focuses on group identities based on such factors as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender rather than on the individual.
November 2023 was Transgender Awareness Month in the Hayward School District. A webpage devoted to transgenderism requires that staff and students “use a student’s/colleague’s asserted name and pronouns every time they refer to the student/colleague/caregiver.” School policy considers the refusal to use or the consistent disregard of any person’s asserted name and pronouns as a form of harassment. This policy tramples on an individual’s right not to be coerced into engaging in speech that the individual does not believe in – a form of harassment imposed by the school district in fulfilling its extreme woke agenda.
The Hayward School District at minimum should be required to reimburse the federal government for the money it squandered on Woke Kindergarten. A federal audit should be conducted to ensure that no more federal money is used for funding its woke curriculum. But this will not happen so long as the Biden administration remains in power and continues to embrace the same extreme woke agenda.