Dupage Policy Journal

A parent curriculum group for those with children in Elmhurst School District 205 is hosting a symposium to discuss questionable curricula in the school in the form of Social Emotional Learning. 

“A March 24, 2022 email to parents titled, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Survey, Spring 2022, announced that all Elmhurst public school children, grades 3-12, will be surveyed between April 25th and May 6th," Elmhurst Parents for Integrity in Curriculum (EPIC) said in a press release. "District 205 explained they will be utilizing Panorama Education to conduct the survey, and that the “framework is evidence-based and helps cultivate skills that advance student learning and development.”  

According to EPIC, the symposium will raise parents' awareness on the matter because they "believe transparency and clarity around curriculum are important. 

“(Social Emotional Learning) has been presented to parents as necessary, and a transformational tool that will thrust their children to greater academic achievement and personal fulfillment," the statement continued. "But the evidence to back these claims is weak and unpersuasive, and there are significant concerns regarding SEL data collection and student privacy." 

The group said that many parents do not understand why SEL is being taught "and if it makes sense to divert precious classroom time away from academics to teach it.." Hence the event is an opportunity to learn. 

“Jennifer McWilliams, founder of Jennifer McWilliams Consulting, will be the keynote speaker for the event.," according to the press release. "She is a nationally recognized Social-Emotional Learning expert and consultant.”

McWilliams founded an organization in September 2019 to warn parents and citizens about the troubling trends in the education system. She now travels the country lecturing parents on the importance of Social Emotional Learning. 

Parents have also expressed concern about the school system's deep equity initiative. The educational system's curriculum, according to one parent is “teaching the teachers to teach through the lens of racism.” The materials were withheld by the school system from being provided in response to a public records request.

A Marxist interpretation of American history has also been accused of being taught in the school district. The district was discovered to be using Howard Zinn's work in high school classrooms without an opposing text to provide a different perspective. Zinn was a well-known historian whose book "A People’s History of the United States of America" is a favorite of leftists.