Pennsylvania School District Sued For Alleged Racial Segregation by Civil Rights Group

by Op-ed Contributor

Reagan Reese on January 31, 2023

LOWER MERION, PA- The Parents Defending Education group filed a complaint Tuesday with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Education against a Pennsylvania school district accused of racial discrimination.

A complaint obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation alleges that Lower Merion School District in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, created and used affinity groups to separate students based on race. According to the complaint, the school district offers two programs specifically for students of color, namely “REACH” and “Equity Efforts.”

“Lower Merion is a perfect example of administrators and educators gone amuck – and where, unfortunately, the students are the ones who are being left behind,” Caroline Moore, vice president of Parents Defending Education, told the DCNF. “The district is taking advantage of elementary school students by indoctrinating them with racist propaganda beginning in first grade using lesson plans that foster race-based conversations, which lump students into categories based on how they look. In addition, the district has created affinity groups throughout K-12, rather than creating opportunities for students to connect based on interest areas, coursework, and after-school activities.”


Lower Merion School District hosts an affinity group titled “REACH” specifically for middle school students of color to discuss “race, empowerment and inclusivity,” the complaint alleged. The group gives students the opportunity to meet with other students of color from different school districts.

The school district’s “Equity Efforts” group allegedly encourages only high school students of color to join to “engage in conversations” relating to their “cultural heritage,” the complaint stated.

The school district offers a course titled “Cultural Proficiency for Kids” for elementary school students which allegedly aims to “increase students’ understanding of identity and diversity” through the study of equity, justice and antiracism, the complaint stated. Within its course titled “Cultural Proficiency for Kids,” Lower Merion School District allegedly taught students about “equity, justice and antiracism,”

As a part of the “Cultural Proficiency for Kids” course, elementary school students read “The Skin You Live In,” a nursery rhyme about “social acceptance,” and discuss their skin color while pointing out different races throughout the book, the complaint alleged.

Students are given mirrors and asked to “look closely at, and identify, their distinguished attributes,” according to the complaint. The class allegedly teaches students that “babies as young as 7 months can discern race and show preferences.”

The OCR and Lower Merion School District did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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