Watch: #95-Black Math Genius Causes Controversy in Jefferson County WV Schools – VisionRoot
On June 2, 2021 the Jefferson County West Virginia Board of Education voted to approve the funding of the Black Math Genius summer program. The four week program is to cost $63,280 plus or over $1100 per student enrolled. The cost that parents can purchase the Black Math Genius program for online is $249, less than one fourth of the cost that taxpayers will pay per child.
There are several issue with bringing Black Math Genius to Jefferson County public schools. First, recruitment for the program began before the School Board approved hiring for the program. Teaching positions for the program were posted without School Board approval. There was little input from the community, with only one virtual special School Board meeting for discussion of the program.
The founder of the Black Math Genius program, Assata Moore, has stated that black children are intentionally not taught math properly. It is highly debatable that black children are intentionally singled out to receive an inferior education. Here she says at 4:39 in the video that public schools are “systemically racist”. It is true that in some school systems, such as the District of Columbia, black children often fare poorly. But is this because of systemic racism? If so, we must conclude that the mostly black teachers and mostly black administrators in the District of Columbia are systemically racist. This is clearly a false premise.
We see the Jefferson County School Board working to introduce a program that is not only very expensive, but where the program’s founder believes in systemic racism. These ideas are the same as those of Critical Race Theory, and derive from a Marxist/Communist point of view, i.e. where formerly the workers were pitted against the capitalists, now one race is pitted against another.
Jefferson County Schools should stick to teaching subjects in a way that does not introduce Marxist ideology, i.e. Critical Race Theory. This theory is false. We are all created by God. As the Declaration of Independence states, we are endowed by our Creator with Inalienable rights.
Are we to go back to segregation? No, we must categorically reject that approach.
Let’s not forget that intact family structure and parental support, not race, is the most important factor in student success. The Jefferson County Board of Education would be well advised to adopt policies that recognize this fact. Those youth who graduate from high school, get a full time job and don’t have children before marriage and before age 21 are ten times less likely to live in poverty than those who don’t follow this guidance Furthermore, children living with their mother and her boyfriend are six times more likely to be physically, emotionally, or educationally neglected than children living with their married biological parents, according to the Witherspoon Institute.
Let’s focus on what makes all children successful. Let’s reject divisive and false Critical Race Theory related programs and teachings. As Jefferson County parent Chris Keiter shared on The Richard Urban Show “we need to get race out of everything right now. … We are all Americans, we are all the human race.”
