In a recent development, Tiger Craven-Neeley, a teacher from Hayward Unified School District in California, was placed on administrative leave following his public criticism of the district's investment in a program known as "Woke Kindergarten."
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Craven-Neeley informed the San Francisco Chronicle that he was requested to surrender his keys and laptop and was instructed not to return to his classroom at Glassbrook Elementary until further notice.
The school authorities informed Craven-Neeley that he was being placed on paid leave due to "allegations of unprofessional conduct," but did not provide any additional explanation. When asked about the situation, district spokesman Michael Bazeley declined to comment on the specifics, stating, "We don't comment on private personnel matters." He also refuted the notion that Craven-Neeley's leave was a retaliatory measure or a consequence of his interaction with the press.
The administrative action against Craven-Neeley comes in the wake of his expressed concerns about Woke Kindergarten, a for-profit company hired by Glassbrook Elementary to train teachers. The school reportedly spent $250,000 of federal funds, intended to improve test scores at some of the nation's lowest-performing schools, on this program. However, the Chronicle reports that after two years with Woke Kindergarten, students' scores have reportedly deteriorated.
According to the Chronicle, less than 12% of the students at Glassbrook Elementary can read at their grade level, and under 4% are proficient in math, marking a 4% drop in both areas over the last two years. Woke Kindergarten, on its website, describes its mission as "supporting children, families, educators, and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-black and queer and trans liberation." The organization also promotes "Woke" words of the day such as "ceasefire," "abolish," and "Woke Wonderings" about challenging the "legitimacy of the Supreme Court" and abolishing the police, money, and the military.
Glassbrook Elementary, predominantly Latino/Hispanic with over 80% of students being English learners, has seen some teachers anonymously express their dissatisfaction with the funds spent on teaching children to be "abolitionists" while reading scores remain low. Craven-Neeley, however, chose to voice his concerns publicly. He was quoted as saying that Woke Kindergarten trainers advised him to "disrupt Whiteness" in the classroom, a concept he found unclear. "What does that mean?" Craven-Neeley questioned. "I just want to know, what does that mean for a third-grade classroom?"
Despite the criticism, some teachers have defended the program, arguing that a new approach is necessary as a strict focus on academics has not improved learning. "We need to try something else," kindergarten teacher Christina Aguilera told the Chronicle. "If we just focus on academics, its not working. There is no one magic pill that will raise test scores."
Following the Chronicle report and subsequent national media coverage, Glassbrook has reportedly received dozens of "threatening and racist" messages, a fact confirmed by district spokesman Michael Bazely. Craven-Neeley, who supports discussing racism in the classroom, attempted to voice his concerns at a staff meeting before going to the press. He described the meeting as tense, with one teacher allegedly accusing him of being a "danger to the school or the community."
Craven-Neeley said a district administrator eventually asked him to leave the meeting. "I was shocked. This is my school. I didnt do anything inappropriate," he told the Chronicle. "I left. I was very shaky." Bazeley declined to comment on the events of the faculty meeting.
Following the meeting, Craven-Neeley was instructed not to report to school and to attend a video conference with district officials. During this meeting, he was informed of his leave pending an investigation into the allegations of unprofessional conduct against him. Craven-Neeley expressed concerns to the Chronicle that officials were "going to twist things to try to justify retaliation or trying to appease the staff or theyre tired of me being a whistleblower or all the above."
Bazeley, however, insisted that the district does not place employees on leave for retaliatory purposes or limit any employee's free speech rights. "The leave was not in response to any of his contacts with news media," he told Fox News Digital.
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