A Bay Area elementary school spent $250,000 on a “Woke Kindergarten” program, only to see its students’ literacy skills decline.
The Woke Kindergarten program explains its mission as an “abolitionist early learning ecosystem” that trains teachers to eradicate white supremacy and combat racism and oppression that create barriers to learning.
After federal funds were spent on the Glassbrook Elementary program in Hayward, math proficiency among its 474 students fell to a new low of just 4 percent and reading and writing proficiency fell to just 12 percent.
The results, recorded last spring two years into Woke Kindergarten's three-year contract, represent a 4 percent decline in each category.
The school also remains in the lowest ranking statewide on the Comprehensive School Improvements list and has a lower attendance rate than before the program was implemented.
The for-profit company was founded by non-binary early childhood teacher Akiea “Ki” Gross (pictured).
The Woke Kindergarten program explains its mission as an “abolitionist early learning ecosystem” that trains teachers to eradicate white supremacy and combat racism and oppression that create barriers to learning
Some Glassbrook teachers, including Tiger Craven-Neeley (pictured), have raised concerns about the program and the use of funds intended to help some of the country's lowest-performing schools
Woke Kindergarten's philosophy of “abolitionist education,” aimed at elementary-age children, is based on the idea that the education system as it stands, permeated by racism and other oppressive structures, cannot be reformed.
Instead, it advocates “a kind of new beginning,” UC Berkeley education professor Zeus Leonardo told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Woke Kindergarten is open about its political leanings, its social media pages littered with pro-police abolition graphics, anti-Israel messages and even abolitionist advocacy.
One of those lessons the program offers elementary school children includes asking students to consider, “If the United States defunded the Israeli military, how could that money be used to rebuild Palestine?”
Woke Kindergarten also teaches children a “wake word of the day” such as “ceasefire” to educate them on the “language of resistance”…to introduce children to liberating vocabulary in a way they can easily digest, understand and, above all, be able to understand, is what they use in their criticism of the system.'
The for-profit company was founded by non-binary early childhood educator Akiea “Ki” Gross, who uses the pronouns “they/them.”
Gross holds far-left views that include the idea of a world “free from the US empire and free from Israel,” which she has previously described as an “invented place.”
In an Instagram post defining the word ceasefire, they said: “One place that people are demanding a permanent ceasefire for is Palestine because it is occupied or controlled by a made-up place called Israel, which has settlers There are those who are called Zionists and who are causing harm. “Killing the Palestinian people who have always lived on the land.”
Glassbrook Elementary in Hayward remains the state's lowest-performing school on the Comprehensive School Improvements list
Woke Kindergarten is open about its political leanings, its social media pages littered with pro-police abolition graphics, anti-Israel messages and even abolitionist advocacy
Other information disseminated by the company includes trans-affirming information for children
Gross holds far-left views that include the idea of a world “free from the US empire and free from Israel,” which she has previously described as an “invented place.”
One of the most recent “Woke Words of the Day” posted on the company’s Instagram was “ceasefire.”
Hayward Superintendent Jason Reimann defended the school's decision to discontinue Woke Kindergarten
“I am anti-Israel, I am pro-Palestine,” Gross posted on Woke Kindergarten’s Instagram account on Saturday.
“I believe that Israel has no right to exist.” “I believe that the United States has no right to exist,” they declared.
“These people keep coming to get me. “I am for humanity,” they added.
Some Glassbrook teachers, including Tiger Craven-Neeley, have raised concerns about the program and the use of funds intended to help some of the country's lowest-performing schools.
Craven-Neeley, a white gay man, told the Chronicle he was excluded from workouts at Woke Kindergarten because he dared to ask an unidentified coach in the program what “disrupting whiteness” meant after it was called was listed as one of the main objectives of the programme.
The teacher said he interviewed a trainer who used the phrase “so-called United States,” as well as lessons available on the organization's website and “little comrade convos” or “wondering” about a world without police, money or landlord.
“I just want to know, 'What does this mean for a third-grade classroom?'” he told the Chronicle.
“Woke Kindergarten” had a lot of good things. I think race should be addressed. “Children should be aware when they are being discriminated against,” Craven-Neely said.
“But as a Hayward Unified teacher, I shouldn’t have to get involved in the bandwagon of defunding the police or insulting our country,” he added.
“If you were a dissenting voice, it started to become very clear that it wasn't what they wanted to hear,” another teacher told the publication.
“Our reading grades are low,” they said.
Reimann said Woke Kindergarten was not hired to improve reading, writing and math scores, but that “helping students feel safe and whole is an essential part of academic achievement.”
The company recently posted a “Free Palestine” infographic for children on its Instagram
Gross and Woke Kindergarten already made headlines when a school district in Virginia posted – and then deleted – information on its website encouraging students to listen to an audiobook by Gross, noting that they were nearby the police should not feel safe
Gross often shares her thoughts on topics such as Islamophobia on social media
Craven-Neeley challenged the teachings available on the organization's website and offered “Lil' Comrade Convos,” or “wonder” about a world without police, money or landlords
Adding: “That could have made us a reading interventionist.”
Hayward Superintendent Jason Reimann defended the school's decision to discontinue Woke Kindergarten, telling the Chronicle that parents, teachers and staff identified the provider as a means to increase student achievement through better attendance.
“We are 100% in favor of abolishing systems of oppression that hold our students back,” he said.
“I believe we should select providers based on their work and effectiveness.”
Reimann said Woke Kindergarten was not hired to improve reading, writing and math scores, but that “helping students feel safe and whole is an essential part of academic achievement.”
“I understand that it is more money than we would have liked to spend,” he admitted.
Gross and Woke Kindergarten already made headlines when a school district in Virginia posted – and then deleted – information on its website encouraging students to listen to an audiobook by Gross, noting that they were nearby the police should not feel safe.
Among recommended readings, writing goals, and school standards on the Fairfax Community Public Schools (FCPS) website, Woke Kindergarten's audiobook “Safe” has been listed as a summer resource for second graders ahead of the 2021-2022 school year.
A video of the audiobook began with Gross' story: “We all deserve to feel safe.”
Towards the end of the video they said: “I feel safe when there are no police.”