Chronicle Editorial: Be true to your school, don't rat it out to the feds.
More than $1 million in federal funding for important programs is at stake. Keep the debate in the community. Inviting in the feds is against the interests of our children.
Earlier this month we reported on the pushback by New York State Attorney General Letitia James and the AG’s of 13 other states against efforts by the Trump administration to punish school districts that either adopt so-called DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies or refuse to jettison them. As many readers know, Trump’s Department of Education created a special “End DEI” online portal that would allow parents or others (indeed, anyone) to “report” schools for allegedly discriminatory policies.
At the time, we estimated that about a dozen parents and other residents in the Croton-Harmon school district had used the portal:
“In Croton, we estimate based on confidential sources that at least a dozen parents and other anti-DEI residents have already enthusiastically reported the Croton-Harmon school district via the portal for its pro-DEIA policies, some of which are still in draft form and have yet to be adopted by the Board of Education. If the Trump administration turns out to be serious about withholding federal funding, that could be serious for our district: According to Denise Cohen, Assistant Superintendent for Business, ‘currently, between our school lunch program, Pre-K, and our federal grants, we receive over $1 million in federal funding.’”
Although we do not have exact figures, we now believe that several more individuals have also used the portal.
The Croton-Harmon school district already has a target on its back, in the form of a lawsuit against the district by the conservative group Parents Defending Education. Although the suit was dismissed without prejudice by a local U.S. District Judge, a plea by PDE to reinstate it is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. PDE’s lawsuit is one of several similar cases it is hoping to get before the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit does not target DEI policies that are still in discussion form, such as those still being considered by the Croton-Harmon Board of Education; it seeks to delete eight policies already on the books that prohibit harassment and bullying based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, and other such categories.
To put it simply, PDE wants to stop the school district from disciplining students who call other students the “N-word” or any other racial or sexual epithets, on the grounds that to do so violates the First Amendment. Sadly, three Croton-Harmon parents have signed onto this lawsuit anonymously.
Moreover, the Department of Education, in documents it has published, has made it clear that the anti-DEI policies do not include activities that are not truly discriminatory, for example holding a Black history month or (as upcoming in our district) a cultural night, as long as anyone can attend and it is not restricted to certain categories of people.
We have reason to believe that those in Croton who have used the “End DEI” portal to similarly put a target on the back of our district do not, in many cases, truly understand what is discriminatory and what is not. That makes it likely that most of the anonymous complaints will be dismissed or not even looked at.
Nevertheless, those who use the portal, whether they realize it or not, are jeopardizing the more than $1 million in federal funds that we currently receive. All of these programs are designed to help our children, rather than to further a political or cultural agenda that some might not agree with. In other words, reports to this portal, and drawing attention to our district in this way, could end up hurting our children.
If some parents and residents disagree with the school district’s current and proposed policies, there are other, less secretive and more democratic ways to express that. For example, we have a school board election coming up on May 20. Board member Josh Diamond is not running again, but Theo Oshiro is competing for another term; another candidate has declared himself in the election, William Begeny, currently a member of the village of Croton-on-Hudson’s IDEA Committee.
Begeny has a Web site in which he explains his positions and why he thinks people should vote for him. Anyone else who wants to run for the board can do so if they meet the qualifications. Any prospective candidate has until April 21 at 5 pm to file their petition to be on the ballot, and you only need 25 valid signatures to do it.
It is true that these days, it is unusual for anyone to challenge the current members of the Board of Education for their seats. We hear a lot of excuses about this, that Croton is a “one party town,” that it takes a lot of money to run, that many parents are busy and don’t have the time, etc. Nevertheless, the political organization Voice of Croton last year showed that it is possible to challenge the powers-that-be, even in a write-in campaign, IF they can convince voters that their positions have merit.
We realize that it is difficult to accept that one’s position on the issues might be a minority view in a village like ours, but that does not alter the fact that any change of leadership—and of policies—should be democratically decided. To put it bluntly, ratting out our district via secret submissions to a Trump administration online portal, with the possible harm it could cause to our kids, is not worthy of this community.
As it happens, we are hearing indications that the Board of Education, after working on a new DEI policy for several years now and coming very close to having a final text, might be putting the whole project on hold in the face of Trump administration threats. As we reported previously, at the invitation of Croton Pride, Croton-Harmon school superintendent Stephen Walker will be at the Black Cow this coming Tuesday evening, March 18, to answer questions about all of this.
We hope attendance will be abundant.
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The editorial demonized those that think the Education Department DEI portal is a good thing and may have used it. In that sense the editor attacked those folks accused of "ratting out" the activities of the Croton Harmon School District. Susan accuses them of being cowardly and lacking moral strength. I guess personal attacks are taboo but anonymous group attacks are ok.
Hiding behind an anonymous post is cowardly and shows lack of moral strength. A small community isn't led by professional politicians. Local boards are run by regular people in the town. We each have a say in what goes on in our community. It's called voting! Whoever is using this DEI portal I ask you to STOP. The harm far outweighs the benefit. If you feel strongly about what's happening in our town and school let your voice be heard. Stand in your truth and let the 'powers that be' know how you feel. Don't hide with anonymous posts. It's cowardly and will hurt our schools.