Leaders of the Creighton Elementary School District caught the attention of the Goldwater Institute this month when it was discovered that taxpayer money was used to send Governing Board members and administrators to a spendy DEI conference in Napa Valley.
According to the Goldwater Institute, the “glitzy” conference held earlier this month focused on implementing “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) in schools.
According to public records obtained by Goldwater “members of the Creighton Elementary School District Governing Board and Administrative Team journeyed to Napa, Calif., for the three-day 4th Annual California Association of Black School Educators Institute, held between July 14 and July 17 at The Meritage Resort and Spa, where the current room rate—in the off season— is around $400 per night. Conference offerings, meanwhile, included a five-hour “Chairman’s Soiree” at a local winery, where participants were bussed in to enjoy wine and haute cuisine.”
The “Black to Basics”-themed conference promised to “foster collaborative action among California education professionals committed to advancing equity for Black students.”
As noted by the Goldwater Institute, the detailed agenda listing the sessions for this year’s conference was not published online. However, last year’s conference—also in Napa—included sessions such as “A Whole Village Approach to Equity,” “Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning,” and “Equity in Mental Health.”
According to the California Association of Black School Educators (CABSE) website, the group is a “non-partisan organization consisting of elected and appointed school officials, administrators and instructors from across California who are committed to advancing equity for Black students.”
CABSE advocates for public schools to “challenge inherent bias” against black students and supports the “incorporation of Social Emotional Learning and multi-tiered systems of support to ensure equity”—“equity” being the impossible standard of equality of outcomes, regardless of student effort or ability.
The group also:
- Opposes the use of ACT/SAT exams as a factor in college admissions
- Supports the elimination of willful defiance suspensions and expulsions
- Calls for “Meaningful and authentic incorporation of Ethnic Studies Curriculum” on par with other coursework such as math, science, or civics
- Advocates for “Cultural Humility Training” and a “Culturally Diverse and Competent Workforce” to match student identities (i.e., racial quotas)
Now, the Goldwater Institute is asking questions. Questions like why was only 9.25 hours committed to substantive conference content (the sessions where one would qualify for continuing education credit), compared to 22.25 hours spent on “networking” events like the winery soiree. Why are officials from a Phoenix school district attending a California state education DEI conference with a clear California focus? And why is the district—in which 80% of students fail to meet proficiency levels in reading (across all races combined)—narrowly focusing resources toward a single racial demographic to the exclusion of others, while apparently deprioritizing the 80% of students who are Hispanic, Asian, etc.?
The Goldwater Institute is demanding that the District produce a detailed conference agenda, a list of all persons attending the conference (the entire governing board and the superintendent’s cabinet were approved to attend), and receipts for all relevant travel expenses, in addition to divulging whether any attendees brought guests to enjoy this taxpayer-funded vacation.
