“Social and Emotional Learning.” It sounds so innocuous, so appropriate and positive. School officials and policy makers are asking: How could any parent oppose the development of social and emotional skills? But parents are growing more and more alarmed – and for very good reasons.
Social Emotional Learning, often referred to as SEL, has changed over time. Originally, the goal of SEL was to promote morally neutral soft-skills such as self-awareness, self-management, empathy, and goal setting.
In 2020, everything changed with the shift to “Transformative SEL.”
Resources
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) 101
“Social and Emotional Learning.” It sounds so innocuous, so appropriate and positive. School officials and policy makers are asking: How could any parent oppose the development of social and emotional…
Resources
Social Emotional Learning Livestream
PDE is joined by SEL Expert Jennifer McWilliams for a conversation around Social Emotional Learning: What is it? Why do you need to know about it? What does “SEL” look…
Resources
Questions to ask your school about Social Emotional Learning
What is SEL? How do you define it? What is the purpose at this school?What evidence is there that SEL is necessary?Is the SEL program meant to positively influence academics?…
Resources
Curriculum Alternatives
Click to find new alternatives to Social Studies, History, Diversity, and SEL…
Resources
Opting Out
What does it mean to opt out? Do parents have a right to opt children out of aspects of school? What is the process to opt out? What are my…
Resources
Sample Message Requesting SEL Lessons
Schools around the country are making concerted efforts to teach divisive concepts in MANDATORY (no-opt-out process) SEL classes. This may occur in SEL specific classes, homeroom,…
Resources
Incidents
Laramie County School District agrees to pay over $100,000 for Sources of Strength SEL training; Sources of Strength labels using the preferred pronouns of students as “life saving”
Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Laramie County School District seeking any records regarding the district’s adoption of the social emotional learning (SEL) program Sources of…
Incidents
Old Rochester Regional School District has paid Panorama over $30,000 for services and surveys
Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Old Rochester Regional School District requesting contracts and invoices that the district had with Panorama Education from January 2018 through…
Incidents
Manchester Essex Regional School District pays over $11,000 to Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for training programs; pays Yale at least $30,000 for services to implement Social Emotional Learning
Concerned community members provided Parents Defending Education with invoices between the Manchester Essex Regional School District and controversial organizations that were received through public records requests. The school district…
Incidents
Warwick Public Schools provides students with Panorama surveys; pays Panorama Education $83,000 per year for services
On March 29, 2023, WJAR reported that Warwick Public Schools used Panorama Education to provide surveys to students. The news outlet reported that the district…
Incidents
Brady Elementary School provides training for teachers on “implicit bias” and “microaggressions”
Brady Elementary School in Arkansas has a document online titled “School Improvement Plan 2020-2021” that is dated June 2020. The document has goals and action items for the school…
Incidents
Walpole Public Schools has $15,000 contract with Panorama Education
Parents Defending Education received several documents from Walpole Public Schools from a public records request regarding the district’s relationship with Panorama Education. One document was the contract between the district…
Incidents
Council Bluffs Community School District Used CASEL’s Social Emotional Learning Framework and Panorama Student Surveys
Council Bluffs Community School District in Council Bluffs, Iowa, used Panorama Student Surveys in 2017 as part of their CASEL Social Emotional Learning initiative. Social Emotional Learning continues today in…
Incidents
Sage Ridge School partners with equity consultant “Challenge Success” to replace academic rigor with student wellness
On May 17, 2022, Sage Ridge School, an independent school for grades 3 through 12 in Reno, Nevada, hosted an information…
Incidents
Georgia State University Professor and Atlanta Public School Counselor Promoted “White School Counselors Virtual Summer Affinity Group”
In April 2022, a professor of school counseling at Georgia State University announced that she would be hosting, alongside an Atlanta Public School teacher, a “White School Counselors Virtual…
Incidents
The Bureau of Indian Education’s Website Promotes CASEL Social-Emotional Learning
The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior, promotes Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s (CASEL) social-emotional learning, linking it…
Incidents
Atlanta Public Schools Center for Equity and Social Justice Features Zinn Education Project in Its Guidelines for Teaching Controversial Issues
The Atlanta Public Schools Center for Equity and Social Justice has a teacher resource called Guidelines for Teaching Controversial Issues. The document begins with a letter from …
Incidents
Ohio Department of Education Approved and Launched CASEL Social-Emotional Learning Program in 2019
In 2019 the Ohio Department of Education approved the standards for Ohio’s Strategic Plan for Education: Each Child, Our Future. Each Child, Our Future a social-emotional learning plan created in…
Incidents
Cleveland Metropolitan District Launched Social-Emotional Learning Program With CASEL in 2008
In 2008 Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, Ohio, launched its Humanware initiative, of which social-emotional learning was a large part. According to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s…
Incidents
Atlanta Public Schools Implemented CASEL’s Social-Emotional Learning In Response to Cheating Scandal
Atlanta Public Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, started social-emotional learning in 2015 in response to the 2011 cheating scandal in which school staff artificially boosted standardized test scores. The…
Incidents
Arizona Department of Education’s Website Features “Navigating SEL from the Inside Out” Guide for School Leaders and Administrators; includes “educational equity” and “equitable SEL”
The Arizona Department of Education’s website features a variety of social-emotional learning or SEL resources for students, parents, and administrators. The “Navigating SEL from the Inside…
Incidents
Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals 2022 EdCon Conference Featured Session, “Putting SEL at the Core of Our Work”
The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, or MASSP hosted its annual EdCon Conference on June 27-29, 2022, at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, MI. This year, the…
Incidents
Omaha Public Schools investing $460,000 from federal funding into Social Emotional Learning
On October 5, 2022, the Omaha World-Herald reported that Omaha Public Schools is “investing $460,000 from its federal money to implement more social and emotional…
Incidents
School SEL lesson features elementary students writing poetry focused on racial identities
A lesson plan targeted for grades K-5 titled “Sharing Our Colors: Writing Poetry,” which is the third lesson in the series called “The Different Colors of Beauty,” states that…
Incidents
Allegheny Valley School District hires multiple consulting firms to implement Social Emotional Learning into curriculum
A concerned community member reached out to Parents Defending Education and explained that the Allegheny Valley School District has adopted the PATHS Program and PASS to implement Social Emotional…
Incidents
Clark County School District agrees to $785,999 contract with Panorama
A member of the parental rights organization “For The Children of CCSD” provided Parents Defending Education with a contract between the Clark County School District and Panorama Education Inc. The…
Incidents
Wilson County Schools in process of adopting $179,700 contract with Panorama Education
Wilson County Schools is in the process of approving a new contract with Panorama Education for the 2022-2023 school year. Parents Defending Education received the contract from a concerned community…
Incidents
Charleston County School District announces intention to change curriculum to be more “culturally proficient”; trains leadership staff and educators in “racial equity”
On December 16, 2019, the Charleston County School District adopted a “Cultural Competency” policy in an effort to become more “culturally proficient.” The policy explains that…
Incidents
Layton High School receives $10,000 to support events during “Pride Week”; district mandates that schools allow transgender students to use their preferred restrooms and locker rooms
In 2022, the “It Gets Better Project” allowed schools to “apply for up to $10,000 in grant funding to support school-based projects empowering LGBTQ+ students.” The…
Incidents
Liberty Tech Charter School plans to adopt new SEL curriculum; prohibits parents from opting students out
A concerned community member reached out to Parents Defending Education about Liberty Tech Charter School implementing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) into the school curriculum. This person explained to PDE…
Incidents
Lee’s Summit R-7 School District agrees to $510,000 contract with Panorama; pays $97,000 to provide teachers and district staff with “racial equity training”
A concerned community member provided Parents Defending Education with contracts between Lee’s Summit R-7 School District and Panorama Education Inc. In a contract dated December 1, 2019, the school district…
Incidents
Missoula County Public Schools trains teachers in “interrupting oppression”; shifts to “gender identity” for participation in school programs, activities
Missoula County Public Schools has a policy titled “Equal Education, Nondiscrimination and Sex Equity.” The policy states: “Equal educational opportunities shall be available for all students…
Incidents
West Chester Area School District trains teachers in “talking to children about gender”; board votes to keep sexually explicit graphic novel, ‘Gender Queer,’ in school libraries
The West Chester Area School District promotes perceived accomplishments at achieving equity on its website under a page titled “Equity Mission.” This page provides numerous resources…
Incidents
Members of Rockwood School District’s “challenge committee” support children reading sexually graphic books; district introduces plan to train teachers to use students’ “preferred name and pronouns”
The Rockwood School District formed a committee to review the children’s book It Feels Good to Be Yourself, a book that is based in gender ideology. However, the…
Incidents
River Forest School District 90 makes “equality of outcome their primary goal”; sees record-low test scores for students
West Cook News reported that River Forest School District 90 changed curriculum and teaching methods “to prioritize equalizing white and black student test scores, rather…
Incidents
Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools agrees to SEL curriculum that will cost $11,000 per year; agrees to contract paying Panorama more than $22,000 for surveys and professional development; previously paid consulting firm $22,500 to push equity initiatives
On September 1, 2021, the Board of Education of Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools voted to implement a new Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum from…
Incidents
Manhattan Beach Unified School District promotes Social Emotional Learning by celebrating “SEL Week”; commissions equity audit that recommends the school district adopt the “Social Justice Standards”
In early March 2022, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District promoted a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) week on Twitter and Facebook. Schools…
Incidents
Pulaski County Special School District votes to hire two outside consultants in the name of Social Emotional Learning: Panorama Education and QuaverEd.
On August 10, 2021, the Pulaski County Special School District’s Board of Education agreed to work with Panorama Education Inc. to implement Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in…
Incidents
Flandreau Public Schools principal calls student into office for questioning “pride” flag; school district uses Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) material from group pushing equity in classrooms
On September 13, 2021, Dakota News Now reported that controversy erupted when a student was called to the principal’s office after questioning why a “pride” flag…
Incidents
Penn High School gives teachers SEL lesson on “Racism and Anti-Racism”; shows “Pyramid of White Supremacy” that leads to genocide
Penn High School reportedly gave teachers a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) lesson on “Racism and Anti-Racism” in the week of March 1, 2021. The lesson included a…
Incidents
San Juan Unified School District implements “8 Point Commitment Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum” to include “Identity Safe Zones,” mandatory antiracism training
On January 6, 2021, the San Juan Unified School District Curriculum, Standards, Instructional, and Student Services Board Advisory Committee held a meeting that included an equity update. The following…
Incidents
Emails reveal plans to integrate LGBTQ curriculum into elementary school during SEL lessons; $25K grant secured to secure “Rainbow Liaison at EVERY school” in Howard County Public Schools
A 3rd grade elementary school instructional team leader and “RAINBOW representative” in the Howard County Public School System sent an email to colleagues full of excitement about plans to…
Incidents
Coventry Public Schools cite “Panorama Education” in strategic plan as measure for social-emotional learning (SEL)
Coventry Public Schools in Rhode Island have been using Panorama Education surveys for students in the 3rd grade and up across the district. (Rhode Island is one of the states…
Incidents
Fairfax County increases five-year contract to $2.4 million to Panorama Education, a government contractor cofounded by son-in-law of U.S. Attorney General
Cofounder Aaron Feuer spoke in 2013, as the company launched. On Sept. 9, 2021, Fairfax County Public Schools signed “Amendment 2,” a new agreement to pay $2,445,300 to Panorama Education…
Incidents
Penn High School’s Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum Includes Lesson On Microagressions
On June 18, 2021, REAL News Michiana published an article titled Penn High School’s Critical Race Theory Curriculum, Lesson 1: Microaggressions. REAL News Michiana filed a Freedom of Information…
Incidents
Savannah-Chatham County Public School System Pays over $95,000 to Panorama Education For SEL Surveys
The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System has announced that they will begin using controversial Panorama Education surveys for students and staff in the district. The District states the surveys…
Incidents
Moorpark Unified School District provides resources for parents to educate their children in antiracism and gender ideology; promotes social emotional resources from CASEL
Parents in Moorpark Unified School District reached out to Parents Defending Education with concerns about professional development and resources on the district website. One parent expressed the following:…
Incidents
West Hartford publishes “elementary social justice lessons standards and mentor texts;” transgender content introduced in Kindergarten
Parents from West Hartford contacted us at Parents Defending Education because of concern over the district’s focus on group identities in grades K through 5, including transgender content in kindergarten.
Incidents
Investigations
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
What is the the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL? The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, describes itself as a…
Consultants
Panorama Education Inc.
What is Panorama Education Inc.? In an article in February 2013, Yale student Aaron Feuer described his decision to create Panorama Education. The article described the organization…
Consultants
‘Black Lives Matter at School’ in K-12 Classrooms Nationwide in 2022
From Boston, Mass., to Seattle, Wash., school districts, schools, teachers’ unions and educators around the country are teaching the controversial activist curriculum, lesson plans, activities and, even, official coloring book…
Press Releases
‘National School Counseling Week 2022’ reveals how K-12 schools increasingly try to get into children’s heads with activist agendas
Everyone cares about the wellbeing of children. Unfortunately, the launch of “National School Counseling Week 2022” from Monday, February 7, through Friday, February 11, illustrates how a national network…
Press Releases
Media
DAILY CALLER: School District Shells Out Thousands On Controversial Emotional Survey Program With Ties To Merrick Garland
A Massachusetts school district has spent more than $30,000 to conduct “social-emotional learning” (SEL) surveys on students and staff led by an educational organization founded by U.S. Attorney General Merrick…
Media
THE NEW YORK SUN: Parents Seethe Over Schools’ ‘Social-Emotional Learning’ Exercises
Another flashpoint has arisen in the ongoing battle between parent activists and teachers.
Media
FOX NEWS: Nebraska school uses COVID funding for social and emotional learning, to combat mental health issues
Recent survey said 70% of US public schools reported increases in student requests for mental health services…
Media
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: The critical race theory to SEL education pipeline
Last month, 20 major education organizations formed a coalition “aimed at squelching misinformation” about social-emotional learning. A few weeks later, NPR ran a major article titled “How the Right Turned…
Media
FOX NEWS: Nevada school district contracts more than $800K for surveys, anti-bias training
A contract between the Clark County School District and Panorama Education was for nearly $800,000…
Media
FOX NEWS: Controversial Florida math textbook ignites social-emotional learning debate
A McGraw Hill fourth grade math textbook in Florida was criticized for including emotionally based questions…
Media
DAILY CALLER: Georgia School Refuses To Let Kids Opt-Out Of Lessons ‘Steeped In’ Critical Gender, Race Theories, Parents Group Says
A Georgia charter school told parents they will not be able to opt children out of a social-emotional learning (SEL) program, according to a parents group.
Media
AMERICAN GREATNESS: Don’t Buy into SEL!
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) was always a bad idea, and now that it is politicized, it’s a nightmare.
Media
FOX NEWS: Blue states blasted for ‘appalling’ move to use COVID relief money to fund CRT: ‘A trojan horse’
California awarded $15 billion for school reopening plan that included ‘implicit bias training’…
Media
NATIONAL REVIEW: Schools Push Radical Ideology under Guise of ‘Social-Emotional Learning,’ Parents Warn
During the pandemic, Traci Spiegel’s son and most of his Howard County, Md., classmates received virtually no mathematics instruction for five months.
Media
THE DAILY SIGNAL: California Teacher Describes Training Session Where Educators Were Pressured to Use Students’ Preferred Pronouns
A staff member at one of the nation’s largest school districts said he participated in a “cult retreat-like experience” during a teacher training session, according to a report from Parents…
Media
TOWNHALL: ‘Cult-Retreat-Like Experience’: California School District Trained Staff to Use Preferred Pronouns, Names
The Los Angeles Unified School District required its staff to participate in “socioemotional learning” training that involved educators agreeing to use students’ preferred names and pronouns.
Media
BREITBART: Biden Promotes Critical Race Theory ‘Trojan Horse’ with ‘International Social Emotional Learning Day’
President Joe Biden celebrated “International Social Emotional Learning Day” Friday, saying, “I believe the government has a responsibility to support you.”…
Media
DAILY CALLER: ‘National School Counseling Week 2022’ Shows How Educators Use Concerns About Children’s Wellbeing To Implement ‘Activist Agendas’
National organizations, equity consultants and public school districts are using mental health initiatives to push what critics decry as the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT), including “social and emotional…
Media
DAILY CALLER: Georgia Public School System Shelled Out More Than $95,000 For Panorama Education Survey
A public school system in Georgia spent over $95,000 to conduct a “social-emotional learning” survey on students led by an educational organization operated by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s son-in-law.
Media
NATIONAL REVIEW: ‘Social-Emotional Learning’: The Next Fight in Education
A trendy new progressive education concept would prioritize gauzy (likely left-wing) ‘character development’ at schools over actual learning.
Media
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