An email was sent to parents in Merrimack, NH notifying them that their district is teaming up with 2Revolutions. Here is what 2Rev has posted on their website about white people:
2Rev promotes the idea that if you subscribe to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a color-blind society, you are a white supremacist.
The goal of the 1960s landmark civil rights legislation was to remove racial discrimination and so establish a race-blind standard. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s [7] central hope was that people would someday be judged by “the content of their character” rather than “the color of their skin.”[5] [Wikipedia]
I suspect that there are Merrimack teachers, staff, parents, and students who still subscribe to MLK Jr’s vision. But anti-racists now judge people, not by the content of their character, but by the color of their skin. That’s today’s version of Critical Race Theory, and it’s being implemented into public and private schools across the country. Colorblindness is now considered racist. Race has become the most important feature of an individual’s identity within this radical worldview.
If you live in an area that funds public education through property taxes, you are a white supremacist. That would pretty much cover all of the parents in Merrimack.
If you believe all lives matter, you are a white supremacist. If you believe in exceptionalism or celebrate Columbus Day, yes, you are a white supremacist.
Merrimack schools observe Columbus Day: https://www.sau26.org/Page/10#calendar4895/20211016/month
Gilmanton residents were outraged to see what 2Revolutions was all about and challenged their school board members. They quickly disassociated themselves with the organization.
Merrimack’s presentation on 2Revolutions included a slide showing SAU16’s partnership; however, they didn’t mention that many SAU16 parents were also upset about this partnership.
In this article on SAU16’s presentation on 2Revolutions, I describe the snake oil presented to parents. School administrators take your precious tax dollars and send them to 2Revolutions to transform your school. Did any parents or local community members ask for any of this? NO. This is not a grassroots effort to transform your public school by an organization that labels most of your community as white supremacists.
I attended the school board meeting in SAU16, where a representative for 2Revolutions informed the attendees what they would be doing to change the education model in the district. They didn’t mention that everyone in the audience was a white supremacist, according to their graphic. How convenient.
Parents sat there amazed that what was presented, had nothing to do with academics. In fact, parents were hoping to hear how 2Rev’s input would help their children in terms of math, science, history, etc. NO, none of that was mentioned. They got a sense that what 2Revolutions was selling, wasn’t anything they wanted.
Their children had just come out of a year where the academic instruction was faltering. They had fought for a year to get the school re-opened and, it took an act from Governor Sununu to force that in SAU16. Now they were being subjected to more spending on something that wouldn’t help their children recover.
What would help? Private tutoring, a review of the curriculum to make sure they were using the best materials, or teacher training focused on academic excellence instead of shaming teachers for their skin color.
Make sure Merrimack residents and parents see what they are paying for here: https://granitegrok.com/blog/2021/06/more-snake-oil-coming-out-of-exeter-sau16.
If you care about academic achievement, then it’s up to you to speak up. Gilmanton’s parents made it clear to their school board members that they expected better.
2Revolutions teamed up with the Manchester school district, where most students are not proficient in the basics. Is this the direction you want for your schools? SAU16 parents are not happy that their district has fallen in school rankings too. Instead of focusing on improving the academics, they teamed up with an organization focused on discriminating against the vast majority of people who live in this district. Their materials violate our Civil Rights and the anti-discrimination law in New Hampshire. This is what you want for your teachers, students, and families?
It’s up to you. They want your feedback.
Dear Merrimack Families,
We hope this note finds you well. It has been wonderful seeing students in person as we launch the new school year. We are writing to inform you of a strategic planning initiative that has begun to take place. At the school board’s recommendation, a partnership has been established with the Merrimack School District and an organization, 2Revolutions. 2Revolutions is a national education design lab that builds capacity to support transformation in districts toward equitable and learner-centered schools and systems. To learn more about them you can visit their website www.2revolutions.net. As part of our work together, Merrimack School District is spearheading an effort to set a bold vision for Merrimack’s future of learning. Here are a few steps that will be followed: • Seek input from stakeholders – through a mix of surveys, focus groups and interviews, 2Revolutions is meeting with district leadership, some staff, students and parents in order to best determine what is working well and where there is room for improvement. This input will be helpful in the design of a strategic plan. • 2Revolutions will be hosting a few community design studios with families, students and community members in order to answer the question, “what do we want our students, upon graduation, to know and be able to do?” Answering this essential question will inform our work as educators moving forward and be another essential input to our strategic work. Additionally, this work will greatly assist with informing our selection of our next superintendent. Please stay tuned about upcoming events, including the community design studios in October. We encourage your participation so your perspective can help to inform Merrimack’s steps toward continuous improvement and ongoing innovation.
Sincerely, Everett Olsen and Kimberly Yarlott
