When the Perris Union High School District Board of Trustees decided in a 4 to 1 vote to eliminate the ONLY person in the district dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, they chose harm over help for students. This is a growing theme across the country with conservatives choosing to eliminate something that most of them think is anti-white. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Equity in Education is about providing what students, teachers, and administrators need to help students thrive. It is just that simple! Everyone in the school district is entitled to equity, not just students, families of color, or those socioeconomically disadvantaged. Still, this decision by this board, seems to contain more than meets the eye. There are members of the Board who are believers in, and followers of, the Heritage Foundation 2025 Plan.
The Heritage Foundation 2025 Project / Plan was developed in 2022 to be Donald Trump’s plan to “Make America Hate Again.” Their intention is to get rid of the Federal Department of Education, and other similar entities, as well as anything related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The 2025 Plan is a mass effort to turn back the clock to the days of enslavement at worst case, and the time of “Jim Crow” laws at best. Not only do they intend to make the Environmental Protection Agency powerless and push us to use more fossil fuels to make oil and gas companies richer, but they also intend to round up undocumented immigrants and the homeless, and place them in internment camps. There may actually be many American citizens and legal immigrants in
those groups of interned populations; possibly even students, parents, teachers, and staff from Perris Union High School District.
A Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ensures that no one is discriminated against without having someone assigned to advocate for their rights. It is a fact that students are called the “N” word in the Perris Union High School District. It is a fact that teachers have used the “N” word in front of students in that district. The California Department of Education has in fact documented that Perris Union High School District is guilty of Significant Disproportionality suspending Hispanic students in the Special Education program. Regardless of these serious issues, the Board laid off all of the staff (the CARES Teams, the Wellness Centers, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director) that were originally put in place as a required
solution to these problems. These teams were making a big difference. However, the support those groups provided will not be there next school year, and neither will the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to ensure the plan is working. The state will be monitoring them for the next few years.
The Board members who voted to remove this staff should be held accountable for their thoughtless actions. Students will be harmed even more by this lack of concern for their mental and behavioral health. This was NOT a budget issue. This was an extremely conservative push to support a national agenda for Donald Trump. Do not be misled. Board members who really care about students need to be in those seats. If Temecula can get rid of people who hurt children, so can Perris.
David Starr Rabb, Perris City Councilman
Dr. Carolyn Murray, Education Chair, NAACP Branch 1059
Janice Rooths, MBA, Executive Director, Center Against Racism and Trauma
Myles Ross, MBA, Branch President, NAACP Branch 1034
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