Parents of students who attend Estrella Foothills High School in Goodyear, Ariz., managed to successfully block an event called “Transgender Awareness Week” that sought to push left-wing gender theory on the entire school community, according to a public records request detailed by The Federalist.
The report noted that originally, the week-long event featured several different activities that included wearing name tags sporting students’ chosen pronouns, rainbow-colored attire that celebrates the LGBTQ movement, and another day in which students would sport the blue, white, and pink colors of the transgender flag.
The event was being sponsored and hosted by the school’s “Coexist” club.
The Federalist adds:
The club also made an Instagram post encouraging students to donate to the National Center for Transgender Equality, a far-left organization that advocates for boys to be able to use girls’ restrooms in schools, a policy that threatens the safety of young women.
Courtney Ratkus is the sponsor of the Coexist club and a teacher who proposed the spirit day to principal Kimberly Heinz in an email, also explaining the themes behind each day.
“She also advertised the week to students in an email. While advertising Monday’s theme of ‘Make Yourself Known’ where students are supposed to put their pronouns on a name tag,” the outlet reported. “Ratkus noted that ‘Nametags will be provided to you by your first hour teacher.’ In an email to staff, Ratkus explains the spirit week and encourages them to take part.”
Ratkus is an English Language Arts teacher at the school and in the past, she has been very vocal about her political and cultural beliefs online. In one archived Instagram story titled, “Be Kind,” she reposted a tweet on Independence Day that said, “I would say happy 4th of July, but all countries matter.”
In addition, she also wrote on Instagram that “you’re killing people by refusing to wear a mask. Just f*****g wear the mask,” while sharing another accusing Donald Trump supporters of supporting “racism, homophobia, sexual assault, xenophobia, ignorance, misogyny,” and “fascism.”
None of this is shocking when you consider that hundreds of schools are now actually screening teacher applicants through the lens of left-wing ideology, as American Wire reports:
Hundreds of so-called “woke” school districts around the U.S. are taking fire for a new teacher screening process that seeks to learn about applicants’ political beliefs and, moreover, whether they have signed on to a host of left-wing positions regarding gender and race.
The highly controversial practice was revealed in a recent report published in trade journal Ed Week, which said that more than 500 school districts around the country are using it.
The report said that teacher applicants are questioned about how they incorporate gender and race into daily student lesson plans as well as what they, personally and professionally, have done to push back against alleged racism.
The series of questions are meant to gauge a teacher applicant’s “cultural competency.” Some of the questions being asked include:
— “Sometimes, there is a belief that a commitment to diversity conflicts with a commitment to excellence. How would you describe the relationship between diversity and excellence?”
— “How do you ensure that the values of diversity and cultural awareness are reflected in your practice?”
— “How do you incorporate gender diversity and the different racial and cultural backgrounds of your students and families into your daily instruction and classroom environment?”
— “How do you ensure that student outcomes are not predictable by race, ethnicity, culture, gender, or sexual orientation?”
Samuel Goldman, writing in The Week, railed at the cultural competency methodology by noting, correctly, that teachers are now being selected on the basis of their adherence to or belief in cultural Marxism.
“Could a critic of affirmative action, an advocate of proactive policing, or a supporter of voter ID laws (all opinions with significant support among minorities) give a satisfactory answer?” to the Shaw Elementary question, Goldman asked. “How about a Republican voter?”
