Crafting Freedom Institute

One district's response to a Directive from the new Director of the Dept. of Education:
April 8, 2025
To Whom It May (Unfortunately) Concern at the U.S. Department of Education:
Thank you for your April 3 memorandum, which I read several times — not because it was legally persuasive, but because I kept checking to see if it was satire. Alas, it appears you are serious.
You’ve asked me, as superintendent of a public school district, to sign a "certification" declaring that we are not violating federal civil rights law — by, apparently, acknowledging that civil rights issues still exist. You cite Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, then proceed to argue that offering targeted support to historically marginalized students is somehow discriminatory.
That’s not just legally incoherent — it’s a philosophical Möbius strip of bad faith.
Let me see if I understand your logic:
If we acknowledge racial disparities, that’s racism.
If we help English learners catch up, that’s favoritism.
If we give a disabled child a reading aide, we’re denying someone else the chance to struggle equally.
And if we train teachers to understand bias, we’re indoctrinating them — but if we train them to ignore it, we’re “restoring neutrality”?
How convenient that your sudden concern for “equal treatment” seems to apply only when it’s used to silence conversations about race, identity, or inequality.
Let’s talk about our English learners. Would you like us to stop offering translation services during parent-teacher conferences? Should we cancel bilingual support staff to avoid the appearance of “special treatment”? Or would you prefer we just teach all content in English and hope for the best, since acknowledging linguistic barriers now counts as discrimination?
And while we’re at it — what’s your official stance on IEPs? Because last I checked, individualized education plans intentionally give students with disabilities extra support. Should we start removing accommodations to avoid offending the able-bodied majority? Maybe cancel occupational therapy altogether so no one feels left out?
If a student with a learning disability receives extended time on a test, should we now give everyone extended time, even if they don’t need it? Just to keep the playing field sufficiently flat and unthinking?
Your letter paints equity as a threat. But equity is not the threat. It’s the antidote to decades of failure. Equity is what ensures all students have a fair shot. Equity is what makes it possible for a child with a speech impediment to present at the science fair. It’s what helps the nonverbal kindergartner use an AAC device. It’s what gets the newcomer from Ukraine the ESL support she needs without being left behind.
And let’s not skip past the most insulting part of your directive — the ten-day deadline. A national directive sent to thousands of districts with the subtlety of a ransom note, demanding signatures within a week and a half or else you’ll cut funding that supports... wait for it... low-income students, disabled students, and English learners.
Brilliant. Just brilliant. A moral victory for bullies and bureaucrats everywhere.
So no, we will not be signing your “certification.”
We are not interested in joining your theater of compliance.
We are not interested in gutting equity programs that serve actual children in exchange for your political approval.
We are not interested in abandoning our legal, ethical, and educational responsibilities to satisfy your fear of facts.
We are interested in teaching the truth.
We are interested in honoring our students’ identities.
We are interested in building a school system where no child is invisible, and no teacher is punished for caring too much.
And yes — we are prepared to fight this. In the courts. In the press. In the community. In Congress, if need be. Because this district will not be remembered as the one that folded under pressure. We will be remembered as the one that stood its ground — not for politics, but for kids.
Sincerely,
District Superintendent
Still Teaching. Still Caring. Still Not Signing.

Thank you Bruce Levy for the share of this.

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We have got to find ways to stand up to such threats and manipulations that hurt teachers and their ability to educate at the K-12 levels. And mostly, such policies and practices HURT KIDS.

The Crafting Freedom Institute in collaboration with Carolina K-12 is pleased to announce to a two-part webinar series being offered later this month! This event is free thanks to support from the North Carolina Humanities and the North Caroliniana Society. Register now at bit.ly/MosesRoper

Nellie "Chubb's" Miles of the Crafting Freedom Institute , passed away in her sleep Friday night due to an aneurysm. "Ms. Chubb's", born in 1944, was a traditional seamstress and fashion designer who served as a presenter at the NEH-funded Crafting Freedom Workshops ( 2004-2017) which brought over 1000 teachers from around the nation to NC to study the era of slavery and its on-going impacts. "Ms. Chubb's" rich, detailed stories about growing up in generational to***co sharecropping in the 1940s were "living history" one can't get from textbooks or film documentaries. She was a gifted story-teller who made you feel what it was like to walk in her shoes whether she was putting worms on the hook of her grandmother's fishing pole or dodging stray bullets when her family was being terrorized by White neighbors driving around in a pick-up truck and shooting their guns in the air. She passed away in a bed that teachers in the 2017 Crafting Freedom Workshop helped her to buy. She casually mentioned to one of them she needed a better bed and a collection was immediately taken up! She was so proud of her new bed! The generosity of teachers is ever present.

A magnificent human being, mother, grand-mother, great grand-mother, mentor, life-changing teacher and loving, faithful friend is gone from this earth. Yet she will live on forever in the hearts or the thousands of teachers and students whose lives she impacted

There will be an opportunity to view her body this coming Saturday, July 18th at Sassafrass Grove Baptist Church in Yanceyville, NC between 3:00 - 6:00 PM. Due to COVID-19, only 10 persons at a time will be allowed in the church and both masks and gloves will be required. For more information, see the obituary at :
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/16978632/Nellie-Chubb-Miles

A memorial celebration of her life will be held on her birthday next year : June 13, 2021 post COVID-19 (hopefully! )