The Loudoun County, Virginia, Public School district has spent $422,500 in taxpayer funds since 2018 on diversity training inspired by critical race theory, which claims racism is inherent in nearly every aspect of America.
According to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, the school district spent $314,000 in 2019 on coaching and training sessions hosted by The Equity Collaborative, a California-based business that works with schools to "create educational equity and social justice by addressing bias and oppression." The business also offers six different services for schools, including a two-day "racial equity institute," "culturally responsive practice workshops," and "equity focused" coaching—each with a hefty price tag. The firm's educational tools, meanwhile, include an introduction to "Critical Race Theory" and call for discussions about "oppression and education."
"In [Critical Race Theory], racism is seen as an inherent part of American civilization, privileging white individuals over people of color in most areas of life, including education," an Equity Collaborative study pack reads.
In 2019, the Loudoun County school district—the richest county in the nation—signed a contract with "equity leadership coach" Jamie Almanzan for $242,000. The contract included $120,000 for an eight-day "Systemic Equity Assessment," $32,000 for a "District Equity Plan," and $90,000 in salary for Almanzan. Additionally, the district included an addendum for $22,000 to create a four-day "Equity in the Center Co-Facilitation."
The Equity Collaborative billed the district an extra $56,000 outside of their contract and $100,000 in 2020 thus far.
Following the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Loudoun County School District released a "Comprehensive Equity Plan" mandating that "100% of new teachers will engage in onboarding training sessions on Equity and Culturally Responsive Instruction." The plan also calls for current teachers to engage in ongoing instruction about "white privilege" and "equity literacy and racial consciousness."
A Loudoun County school district spokesman told the Free Beacon that the Equity Collaborative did not directly train teachers, saying that it hired the business for a variety of other tasks, such as conducting an equity assessment of the school district.
Loudoun's plan also calls for "anti-discriminatory" disciplinary standards to reduce suspensions of black and Hispanic students, without explaining how to reach that goal.
Loudoun County has come under fire in the past for teaming up with the Southern Poverty Law Center to create a new "social justice" school curriculum. Proposed lesson plans recommend restructuring kindergartners' history and social studies classes to emphasize slavery as fundamental to American society.
President Trump recently criticized critical race theory, promising to defund public schools that promote it.
Critical race theory "is especially harmful to children of minority backgrounds, who should be uplifted, not disparaged," Trump said. "Teaching this horrible doctrine to our children is a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words."