A current member of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) reportedly condemned the practice of "discipline" in K-12 schools at her previous employer, denouncing the tenets of a "racist" system that adheres to "whiteness."
Kayla Patrick now works at the DOE's Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.
However, in 2021, Patrick — who was then employed by The Education Trust, an organization funded by the Gates Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative — was quoted as saying that "school discipline is a symptom of a racist and punitive system that often fails to see children as children," according to Fox News.
Patrick added, "Instead of helping students to learn and grow from mistakes, educators send them into the office, or send them home, or even sometimes call the police. And Black students are more likely to be offended, affected by that."
According to Fox News, Patrick aligns with the Biden administration's equity-driven approach to addressing education initiatives.
In January 2021, during Joe Biden's first days in office, the president signed an executive order to address systemic racism and promote equity in all federal agencies.
Since then, the DOE has spent "hundreds of millions" of dollars on equity-targeted programs and grants, according to Fox News.
Prior to joining the Education Department, Patrick had been outspoken regarding a number of education policies.
Regarding alleged discrimination in schools, Patrick previously stated, "Black girls are more likely to be disciplined, frankly, because Black girls experience race and sex-based discrimination in classrooms, and they are disciplined often for simply being Black.
"... For example, in other settings, we would consider self-advocacy or assertiveness a leadership skill. But when Black girls do it in schools they are often suspended for being loud, defiant or talking back."
For matters of school discipline, Patrick previously said, "There aren't just consequences. These are actions that leave too many Black girls stuck in the school to poverty pipeline. And this doesn't just happen because Black students inherently behave different than white students. They absolutely don't.
"This happens because racism is baked into school discipline and dress code policies," said Patrick.
And when pressed about the alleged acceptance of "whiteness" among educators and administrators, Patrick said, "In this country, nearly 80% of the teachers are white. And sometimes their mindsets are based solely in whiteness. So that means when they come into school, they have predisposed mindsets about who Black children are, what they need to wear, and how they need to behave.
"And so instead of celebrating their identities and cultures, schools often embrace them," added Patrick.
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