What to Know
- By a vote of 5-4 the Pennridge School Board has adopted a teaching curriculum presented by a company at the forefront of the conservative education movement.
- Vermilion Education -- the group brought in as a contractor to overhaul the district's curriculum -- has ties to the far-right stemming from Jordan Adams, the company's CEO.
- Pennridge would be the Vermilion Education's first school board client after a failed attempt to retool a school curriculum in Florida.
After months of contention, including a recent meeting where parents of students in the district vehemently opposed the plan, the Pennridge School District, in Bucks County, has voted to retool it's curriculum to be more in-line with educational tenets espoused by far-right extremist groups.
On Monday night, as many in attendance spoke out against the move, the board approved a contract that would overhaul the district's curriculum.
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Vermilion Education -- the group brought in as a contractor to overhaul the district's curriculum -- has ties to the far-right stemming from Jordan Adams, the company's CEO.
Adams is a graduate and former employee of Hillsdale College, a conservative, Christian school in Michigan that created a controversial 1776 curriculum plan that has been accused of "whitewashing" American history. Adams has said Vermilion Education has no ties to Hillsdale College.
During last night's meeting, board members sparred over the curriculum plan as well as the sniping at each other over the motivations behind wanting to adopt the plan.
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While some spoke in support of the plan, many of those who addressed the board during public comment challenged Vermillion Education's previous experience -- Pennridge would be the company's first school board client -- and questioned board members' push to work with this specific vendor.
Yet, though they seemed at odds, the board adopted the plan and will incorporate the ninth grade curriculum into this upcoming school year. Changes to the elementary curriculum will be postponed until next year.
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