Milton Public Schools DEI Department Provides District Equity Leads with Readings on “Whiteness,” and Anti-Bias Lessons for Middle School Students

Documents obtained via public record request reveal that employees from Milton Public Schools’ Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Department provided lesson plans, handouts, and slides for staff at Pierce Middle School on white supremacy.

On October 30, DEIB coach Adina Schecter drafted an email for district “equity leads” that assigned employees readings about “White Supremacy Culture”:

The linked readings on White Supremacy come from Tema Okum’s “Dismantling Racism” work, and list “characteristics of white supremacy” such as “objectivity,” “sense of urgency,” “worship of the written word,” and “individualism” as “damaging” because “they promote white supremacy thinking.” Similar materials provided by the National Museum of African American History and Culture were removed from the museum’s site in 2020 following public outcry.

The lesson also included a graphic featuring these characteristics as “Poison,” exhorting the reader “Don’t Breathe It In.”

On October 31, the DEIB team prepared to send lesson plans for junior high students on “anti-bias” to employees at Pierce Middle School:

The lesson guide – which was written by “Zakia Jarrett Education Consulting” – was recommended by Jarrett in her capacity as Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the school district, which raises questions about conflict of interest and self-dealing.

In 2020, Jarrett – at the time an English teacher – was placed on administrative leave after telling a sixth grade class that “many cops are racist.” Jarrett was reinstated in the classroom following a backlash by the Milton Educators Association and district families.

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