Elwood Union Free School District adopts curriculum steeped in critical theory; superintendent promises there will be no “reference” to critical race theory

In May of 2021, Elwood Union Free School District’s superintendent, Kenneth R. Bossert, sent a letter home to parents and guardians to announce that all four schools in the district would officially be identified as “No Place for Hate” schools. No Place for Hate or NPFH is an ideological project of the Anti-Defamation League steeped in critical race theory and critical gender theory.

In his effort to address parents who have raised concerns about CRT in Elwood Schools, the superintendent chose his words very carefully. Rather than acknowledge that the NPFH program is based in critical race theory, he promises that “none of our current or future work will include any reference to critical race theory.”

No Place for Hate defines racism as “the marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people” and warns students that “microaggressions” and “seeking out like-minded people” could lead to genocide.

Below are excerpts of an op-ed written by a Colorado father:

But because the CRT based lessons and practices in the Elwood Schools do not actually reference the words “critical race theory,” Superintendent Bossert can stay true to his claim. This is an important distinction.