For as long as I have been working on the South Side of Chicago, we have talked about education, what needs to be done, and how to fix it. Yet things have only worsened as we have watched our children, the future of America, be used as pawns in a political game. That is why it was not a surprise when I learned that the Illinois State Superintendent Tony Sanders, told school districts to follow state law and to defy President Trump’s federal orders to dismantle DEI and other related obstacles to education. 

Sanders recently chose to ignore the “Dear Colleague” letter from the U.S. Department of Education warning schools that they risk federal funding if they continue to pursue DEI and other diversity measures. Sanders stressed in his message to school leaders that Illinois prohibits discrimination against marginalized groups and stressed that key racial and ethnic group are required by law to be represented in classroom instruction. 

“Black history is American history,” wrote Sanders. “The study of events related to the forceful removal and illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S. citizens during the Great Depression is American history. The study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is American history.”

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

He added: “In Illinois, we strive to affirm, uplift, and support all our students and their families. Nothing in any executive order or ‘Dear Colleague’ letter should change that.”

He received the support of Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who accused the Trump administration of using the DEI issue to “just indiscriminately slash school funding.”

These two top state officials sit on top of a failed Illinois education system. I’m on the other end of the spectrum on the ground and I have seen and lived with the consequences of this failure for so long that it makes me sick. 

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What these so-called educators care about more is the racial, sexual, or gender identity of the student than actually educating the student. You can adorn a child with all the identity buttons you want from Black Lives Matter to Gay Pride but what about educating the child in a rigorous fashion? Why have we lost sight of this simple fact? 

Why do we fear discrimination of any sort so much that we have forgotten how to educate our children? The kids in my neighborhood and many others can barely read and do math on grade level.  

Why have so many of our parents been fooled by the idea that a heavy focus on our immutable characteristics is a good thing? Why have we prized diversity over education? 

A child is a reflection of the parent. It is also a reflection of the school system. And right now, all that reflection shows is failure. 

Our only hope is to rid these schools of this DEI culture that weakens our kids’ minds with ideological notions of diversity. You cannot use race on your path to excellence. You can only learn your way to excellence. That is why we parents not just in Illinois but across America must demand one thing only: a classical education that prepares our children for the harsh realities of the world. 

The kids in my neighborhood do not have a DEI problem or a diversity problem. They’re so far behind in education because of all this foolishness. 

What they need are involved parents, good teachers and skilled administrators that know how to raise a child up. That is the only way we are going to get kids from my neighborhood out into the larger world where they can help create true and everlasting diversity of culture and thought. 

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