Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism sends letter to New Trier outlining

Title VI and First Amendment violations

Last week New Trier Neighbors reported that some New Trier students recently were compelled to fill out a survey asking whether or not they would like to participate in an "anti-racist affinity group." Specifically, white kids were asked whether or not they would like to participate in a "white affinity group."

On September 26, the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) sent New Trier a letter outlining concerns about Title VI issues -- i.e. racial discrimination issues -- with the survey questions about affinity groups. Read the incident report filed at FAIR and letter here. Other concerns in the letter address the issue of coerced use of pronouns in the classroom, which had also been reported.

New Trier's attorneys have acknowledged receipt of the letter and indicated an interest in “dialogue” about the concerns. Stay tuned for updates as the proposed dialogue unfolds and, we hope, results in students neither being discriminated against because of skin color nor coerced into using pronouns that violate First Amendment protections.

(See below for an upcoming in-person event being hosted by FAIR in Evanston on October 18!)

Update on Local Schools' Adoption of National Sex Education Standards

Although Illinois schools are not required to teach “comprehensive sex education,” if they do, their curriculum must be consistent with the National Sex Education Standards (“NSES”), which includes radical views of gender, “reproductive justice, racial justice, social justice, and equity.” (See NTN’s 8/11/2022 Newsletter for more details on the NSES.)

Although a majority of Illinois schools have decided to opt out of the NSES, school boards and administrators for Avoca (for 7th and 8th grades), Sunset Ridge (for 5th through 8th grades), Winnetka (for 7th grade) and New Trier High School have chosen to provide comprehensive sex education consistent with the NSES. Parents who are concerned about the explicit and progressive nature of the NSES may opt their children out of sex education in these districts.

Glencoe, Kenilworth and Wilmette school boards and administrators, in contrast, have chosen not to adopt the NSES and will not teach “comprehensive sex education” this year.

Parents in these districts should still be vigilant, however, because all Illinois schools are required to teach human development and social and emotional learning (“SEL”), which some districts are using to teach radical and explicit sexuality and gender theory to kids as young as kindergarten.

Below are links to websites for local school districts where you can find contact info for superintendents and school boards:

Avoca: https://www.avoca37.org

Sunset Ridge: https://www.sunsetridge29.org

Wilmette: https://www.wilmette39.org

Winnetka: https://www.winnetka36.org

Kenilworth: https://www.kenilworth38.org

Glencoe: http://www.glencoeschools.org

New Trier: https://www.newtrier.k12.il.us

SEL Surveys at New Trier

Parents of students at New Trier last week received an email about an SEL survey being conducted at New Trier by Panorama. You can view a sample copy of the survey here.

Parents may opt their children out by filling out a form via a link provided in the New Trier email by October 5th.

Why might one opt out?

Panorama advocates that in "Using Student Survey Results to Reflect and Grow" that schools focus on "Moving toward action that advances equity." Equity, as you'll recall is the CRT-based concept that advocates the redistribution of resources to force equal outcomes, versus an emphasis on equal opportunity, performance, and merit; it calls for using group-based identity politics to separate people along racial and gender lines into groups of "oppressors" and the "oppressed." New Trier regularly invokes equity in its strategic plan.

Another concern about the surveys is understanding what exactly is being done with the aggregated data, as outlined in this article about Panorama. Also, some are concerned about the venturing of teachers and schools into the territory of therapists as it relates to SEL.

You can learn more by going to Panorama's website and selecting "Social Emotional Learning" from the Product tab. In particular scroll down and under the section titled "Support to improve and scale practices" you can see that the corresponding graphic indicates the program’s emphasis on “equity” vs. “equality.”

There is no harm opting out, especially if it is unclear how data is aggregated and for what purpose.

Live October 18 at Double Clutch Brewery FAIR Panel Discussion and live music featuring blues keyboardist Daryl Davis!

Join the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) for an evening of music and conversation about FAIR’s pro-human approach to addressing social issues on October 18 at Double Clutch Brewery in Evanston from 6:30 - 9:30 pm. Register here!

Panel discussion will include FAIR’s Founder and President Bion Bartning along with FAIR Advisors:

Daryl Davis, musician, actor, author and lecturer
Monica Harris, activist, author and lawyer
Jason Hill, author and professor of philosophy

The panel will be moderated by Beth Feeley, New Trier Neighbors president and host of the "Take Back our Schools" podcast.

The event will also feature live music by Daryl Davis, FAIR in Medicine Fellow Robert Graboyes, and Nashville musician and Chicago native Madeleine Kelson.

Video now available online from

"The Chicago Way comes to the North Shore" and

"What you need to know about Amendment 1"

New Trier Neighbors has hosted two events this fall and now you can view them both online!

For video of the entertaining and insightful musings of John Kass and Matt Rosenberg from our sold-out event "The Chicago Way Comes to the North Shore" click here!

For our 30-minute video from "What you Need to Know about Amendment 1" click here.

Amendment 1 is being portrayed as being about workers' rights in Illinois, but there is much more to it. If you care about property taxes going up, parents’ rights being undermined, or union power growing, you should care about Amendment 1.

Also check out this informational website about Amendment 1.

Stay tuned for future New Trier Neighbors events!

"Illinois’s Shocking Report Card"

The Wall Street Journal picks up Wirepoints's reporting on the state of education in Illinois:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/illinois-shocking-report-card-reading-math-grade-level-decatur-teachers-school-board-11664722519