School districts throughout the country used application and interview questions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) during their hiring process, according to an August report from the National Opportunity Project.
Several school districts are using job descriptions, interview questions and rubrics in their hiring process to determine whether teachers are committed to DEI and anti-racism practices, according to a report by the National Opportunity Project, a nonprofit government watchdog organization. Some of the job descriptions included in the report state that school districts are looking for teachers who are committed to “social justice” and willing to “systematically interrupt institutional bias.” (RELATED: Biden Admin Urges Colleges To Continue To Racially Discriminate Following Supreme Court Ruling On Affirmative Action)
“The influence of political and social ideology on teacher hiring in K-12 public district schools is unmistakable,” the report states. “But it also comes as no surprise, given the devotion that districts articulate through various public commitments and policies. Whether branded as an Equity Statement, Commitment to Educational Equity, Anti-Bias/Anti-Racism Presuppositions, or similar, such manifestos recast the role and purpose of public schools as arbiters of social justice and racism-eliminators.”
As a part of the interview process, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland asks applicants how they plan to incorporate “gender diversity” and “different racial and cultural backgrounds” into lessons, the report shows. Applicants are also asked how they will ensure that student outcomes are not predictable by “race, ethnicity, culture, gender, or sexual orientation.”
Spokane Public Schools in Washington state asks applicants what they believe “a socially just” classroom looks like, the report shows. Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Illinois asks applicants during the interviewing process what “culturally-responsive teaching” means to them and asks them to provide an example of how they have created equity in the classroom.
“Describe a time when you experienced or witnessed an inequity,” an application question for Edina Public Schools in Minnesota reads, according to the report. “What steps did you take in response to the situation?”
A job posting for Denver Public Schools lists that qualified candidates “will have an anti-racist mindset and will work to dismantle systems of oppression and inequity in our community,” the report states. Evanston Township High School District 202 in Illinois asks that applicants “demonstrate a commitment to social justice, equity, excellence and high expectations for all students.”
Students in Ms. Beckerman’s third grade class play a guessing game in their classroom at Heather Hills Elementary School in Bowie, Maryland 17 October 2002 at recess in place of their normal outdoor activities. (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Throughout the country, school boards, parents and lawmakers are divided on how to address race and equity issues within the classroom; in Missouri, a school board voted in July to rescind its resolution that committed the school district to “creating an equitable and anti-racist system.” Several schools celebrated National “Black Lives Matter at School” week in February, which emphasized “restorative justice” and “diversity and globalism” lessons.
Montgomery County Public Schools, Spokane Public Schools, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Edina Public Schools, Denver Public Schools and Evanston Township High School District 202 did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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