School District Paid Thousands to Organization Linked to Merrick Garland for Surveys Asking Kids Their Feelings About Race

Colorado Springs School District 11 (CSSD) paid tens of thousands of dollars for surveys asking students how often they think about the “experiences” of someone of a different race or ethnicity, according to a public records request obtained by Parents Defending Education (PDE), a parental rights group.

The district paid Panorama Education, an education software company founded by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s son-in-law, Xan Tanner, a total of $64,573 for the surveys, an annual membership fee and a professional development workshop for the 2023-2024 school year, according to documents obtained by PDE and shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. The survey goes over a number of topics about school climate, including a section titled “Feelings About School,” which has students answer how often their teacher pushes them to think about race and ethnicity, ranging from “almost never” to “almost always.”

Read More

Some School Districts Cancel ‘Diversity’ Programs After Backlash

As backlash grows against so-called “diversity” programs in public schools, some districts throughout the country have been canceling plans to implement such programs.

According to ABC News, one such program was in Colorado Springs School District 11, a district that serves over 26,000 students. In May of 2020, shortly after the accidental fentanyl overdose death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, the district was among the first in the nation to push for an “equity policy.”

Read More