A San Francisco Bay Area school cut its ties with “Woke Kindergarten” after a nationwide backlash against the program's curriculum and its founder's statements.
Glassbrook Elementary School spent $250,000 in federal funds intended to help improve the test scores of some of the nation's lowest-performing schools in the program, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, but after two years with Woke Kindergarten, it reports that student outcomes are worse.
Woke Kindergarten director Akiea “Ki” Gross has shared posts on social media stating that she believes the United States and Israel “have no right to exist” and wants to see the world “free of” those countries. “You are all the villains. We have been trying to take you all down,” she wrote of them.
Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) spokesperson Michael Bazeley told Fox News Digital that the school terminated its contract with Woke Kindergarten on Monday and specified that the consultant was never an employee.
A general view of Glassbrook Elementary School in Hayward, California. (Google Street View)
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Bazeley said HUSD had become aware of certain “statements by Woke Kindergarten staff” and “while we respect freedom of speech and the right of people to hold a variety of political opinions, the provider's social media and other public statements do not align with the values of the district and those of many of our community members.
“Personal political and social opinions are separate from the work that Woke Kindergarten did with us,” Bazeley said.
Woke Kindergarten describes itself on its website as “supporting children, families, educators, and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-Black, queer, and trans liberation.” The organization also has “Woke” words of the day like “ceasefire,” “abolish,” and “Woke Wonderings” about challenging the “legitimacy of the Supreme Court” and abolishing the police, money, and military.
Although the school is parting ways with this particular provider, it still seeks an “anti-racist” education.
The director of Woke Kindergarten is Akiea “Ki” Gross, who has written about “trying to take down” the United States and Israel. (Instagram/screenshot | Woke Kindergarten)
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“We will continue to support Glassbrook Elementary School as its teachers, staff and administrators continue the work of supporting students and families in the school community,” Bazeley said. “Anti-bias and anti-racist teaching, restorative practices, multi-language learning, literacy and mathematics will continue to be a focus for Glassbrook, building on the work the school has done over the past few years.”
The spokesperson said that even as the district terminates the contract, it still claims that Woke Kindergarten's curriculum was mischaracterized.
“The controversy over this program, including widespread media attention, mischaracterization of Woke Kindergarten's work, provider posts on social media, and public response, is distracting the district from doing the important work of supporting our students,” he said. “We concluded that now was the appropriate time to terminate the contract.”
The school reportedly received “threatening and racist” messages following the news coverage.
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On Thursday, a Glassbrook Elementary School teacher who publicly criticized his school district's investment in “Woke Kindergarten” reported that he had been placed on administrative leave over “allegations of unprofessional conduct.”
Bazeley told Fox News Digital at the time, “We do not comment on private personnel matters,” but denied that the teacher had been placed on leave for “retaliatory purposes” or that he was being punished for speaking to the press.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
