School District Pays Thousands for Controversial Emotional Survey Program with Ties to Merrick Garland

A Massachusetts school district has spent more than $30,000 to conduct “social-emotional learning” (SEL) surveys on students and staff led by an educational organization founded by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s son-in-law, according to a public records request by Parents Defending Education (PDE), a parental rights in education group.

From 2018 to 2023, Old Rochester Regional School District spent $30,620.25 to partner with Panorama Education through January 2024 to conduct SEL surveys and trainings, a learning concept that has been accused of laying the foundation for Critical Race Theory (CRT), according to a public records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Panorama Education has previously come under fire by parents for its connections to Garland, who directed the FBI in 2021 to “use its authority” on parents who protested at school board meetings.

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Former Congressman Renacci Launches PAC to Fight ‘Woke’ Ohio School Boards

Jim Renacci, a former Ohio Republican congressman, on Thursday unveiled a new political action committee in an effort to elect conservative candidates to Ohio’s school boards.

The new Save Our Schools (SOS) Ohio PAC, according to a news release from Renacci, would aid candidates in raising funds and targeting voters to win these important seats and use data capturing and analysis on all races to identify crucial races to flip control of local school boards.

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‘Psychologically Abusive’: Some Back-to-School Programs Dividing Students by ‘Gender, Culture, and Identity’

A back-to-school curriculum focused on social-emotional learning (SEL) lays the foundation for Critical Race Theory (CRT) by dividing children through the creation of identity charts, “getting to know you” questionnaires and classroom contracts, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A curriculum created by Facing History and Ourselves, a group that partners with more than 100,000 teachers to provide education resources to combat “racism, antisemitism and prejudice at pivotal moments in history,” has a five day back-to-school lesson plan that teaches kids about gender, culture and identity. The curriculum is based in SEL, which focuses on teaching students social skills for their emotional well-being but has been criticized for laying the groundwork for CRT in the classroom, as similar lesson plans based in SEL are growing in popularity across the country, experts told the DCNF.

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Parents Raise Alarm over Gender Ideology and Race Essentialism Pushed in Classrooms Through ‘Social Emotional Learning’

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not the only three-word phrase that has parents concerned; Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the latest curriculum headache that education experts warn is permeating the American public school system.

SEL purports to teach students social skills that aid their mental health and emotional wellbeing, yet has been criticized as both a tenet of and a euphemism for CRT, which has become a hot button issue among parents, teachers and politicians concerned about the state of the country’s public schools. Educators are teaching gender ideology and race essentialism under the guise of SEL, education experts told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

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GOP Lawmaker Claims School Officials in His State Found a Loophole in the Ban on CRT

A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma is sounding the alarm on what he says is just the “wicked woke stepsister of” Critical Race Theory.

Oklahoma state Senator Shane Jett has proposed legislation to prohibit the teaching of so-called Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in K-12 public schools. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (DOE) is using the seemingly nice sounding name “Social and Emotional Learning” to implement the curriculum as a loophole in a state law that restricts teaching concepts like CRT, according to Jett.

Jett believes his bill, if passed, would shut that loophole and keep SEL out of public schools.

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Ohio Senate Updates High School Graduation Requirements, Denies State School Board Push for ‘Social Emotional Learning’ and ‘Culminating Student Experience’ Provisions

When the biennial budget passed on July 17th, it contained an Ohio Senate provision that changed the high school graduation requirements. The State Board of Education (SBE) had been pushing a different version.

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Positive Behavior Intervention Supports and Social Emotional Learning Will Be on State Report Cards

  COLUMBUS, Ohio — The State Board of Education gathered this week for its monthly meeting. The discussion Tuesday morning began with the topic of PBIS – Positive Behavior Intervention Supports – in the Integrated Student Supports Committee, which is chaired by Board Vice President Charlotte McGuire. PBIS is the…

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Ohio Budget Currently Includes $550 Million for ‘Student Wellness and Success’

  Ohio House and Senate members are up against a hard deadline – the biennial budget must be passed before July 1. One significant provision that has been written into every version of the budget so far includes hundreds of millions of dollars for “student wellness and success.” The current…

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Tim Ryan Wants Social-Emotional Learning in Every Public School Nationwide

  2020 hopeful Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) wants to introduce social-emotional learning standards to every public school in the country. The Ohio Star’s Beth Lear recently did a deep dive on the Ohio State Board of Education’s efforts to bring social-emotional learning to the state. “This is part of a…

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State Board of Education Battles Over Parental Rights, Student Privacy in Social-Emotional Learning Debate

  COLUMBUS, Ohio — The State Board of Education (SBE) continued the battle over Social Emotional Learning (SEL) standards at their monthly meeting. SEL makes up one-quarter of the Board’s Strategic Plan for Education called Each Child Our Future. Half the plan is academic. Board members discussed the standards on…

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Ohio State School Board Poised to Pass Social-Emotional Learning Standards That Teach ‘Attitudes, Behaviors and Dispositions’

  Late last summer the State Board of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria announced Ohio’s new five-year “Strategic Plan” for education. There are four “domains” in the plan, but only two are focused on academics. Reading, math, science and other classes are included in the academic half of the…

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