At least two teachers in Rhode Island have been busted offering students bonus points to defend Critical Race Theory during school board meetings, either in person or through written testimonies.
Documents obtained by Parents Defending Education (PDE) revealed that two teachers in Barrington, Rhode Island, offered five bonus points to each student on their next test if they defended CRT.
The teachers, Alison Grieco and Jennifer Bergevine, were trying to stop House Bill 6070, which prohibits the “teaching of divisive concepts.”
“The legislation aims to prevent the teaching of critical race theory, which includes concepts that ‘an individual, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,’ ‘an individual, by virtue of their race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex,’ and ‘meritocracy or traits such as hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race,'” Breitbart reports.
Through a public records request, PDE obtained the entire email chain regarding the bonus points — and it is quite shocking.
Grieco, a Social Studies teacher who uses her pronouns in her email signature, “strongly urged” her students to speak at the meeting.
“If this passes I would no longer be able to teach the unit on Race or Gender. I have requested to testify in opposition and will be submitting written testimony. Directions on how to do this are at the bottom of the agenda for the meeting,” Bergevine also wrote.
“As I prepare my statement, I would like to be able to include student voices,” Bergevine added. “Please feel free to share with me what you believe is the benefit of potentially ‘divisive concepts’ such as Race and Gender.”
After PDE reached out to the teachers for comment, one of them claimed that their students were told to represent either side and would receive bonus points no matter which one they chose.
Asra Nomani, vice president of strategy and investigations at PDE, said in a statement that the documents they obtained prove teachers organized students in a coordinated campaign to influence legislation in Rhode Island.
“The documents released by the Barrington Public Schools reveals that Barrington High School teachers used classroom assignments – including earning extra credit points – to organize students in a coordinated campaign to influence legislation in Rhode Island. Their assignments were a thinly-veiled attack on the legislation,” Nomani wrote. “That was obvious in the email by a teacher who explicitly sought out students voices to support her testimony against the bill. This campaign by the Barrington High School teachers underscores a disturbing national trend in which school teachers, officials and administrators are exploiting their power to indoctrinate – not educate – students.”