Judeo-Christian values? Not in our classrooms!

Supt. Collins

A strategy proposed to the Burlington, Vt., school board attacks the "negatives" of the Judeo-Christian heritage and suggests its elimination, according to critics of the stunning plan.

Pastor Larry Czelusta believes that the Task Force Report on the Recommended Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Burlington School District" is a document that is openly hostile to Christianity and biblical values.

Czelusta said one of the report's passages openly declares its objections to Christianity and says that the Judeo-Christian culture perpetuates inequality.

"Traditional educational practices are maintained with no critique of existing inequities in any aspect of the school or the education system. Curricula, pedagogies, counseling practices, and all other aspect of education continue to reflect primarily White, male, upper middle class, Christian, and other privileged perspectives and approaches," the report said.

Czelusta said he is aware that schools are facing situations that were uncommon 50 years ago.

"The Marketing of Evil" by David Kupelian is available now. Get your copy autographed and personalized (at no extra charge) – only from Shop.WND.com!

"I know that schools have to deal with social issues in children on levels never seen before. The breakdown of families is huge. Education is not always a priority for parents," Czelusta said.

However, he said that the school board's unanimous reception of the report is a step toward a rejection of the heritage that fostered the growth and development of the city of Burlington.

"I grieve over the dismantling of our society here. This task force report throws everything in the past away and blames Judeo-Christianity for all the ills. Most of Vermont will either agree or be silent," Czelusta said.

Some examples of the report's wording:

St. Johnsbury, Vt., educator Bernier Mayo said he is angry. In a commentary in the Orleans Record, Mayo said the task force study reflects political correctness that he labels "Reductio ad absurdum."

Mayo said that the most frequently cited culprit is the "white, middle-class, Judeo-Christian culture."

"Further down the page it is the 'white, able bodied, heterosexual, middle class students'; later in the text it becomes the 'white, middle class, Judeo-Christians;' a few paragraphs later it is 'conventional, white upper middle class, Judeo-Christian values and beliefs,'" Mayo said.

Page 31 of the report is an example of the focus on the Judeo-Christian culture. The page begins with an appeal for the superintendent and the school board to erase "many negative stereotypes."

"The Task Force recommends that the school board and superintendent infuse the district with the message that the social and educational climate in our schools requires urgent attention to erase many negative stereotypes, subtle and overt behaviors, assumptions, and decisions that favor conventional, white upper middle class Judeo-Christian values and beliefs through the following recommendations for the first year of Strategic Plan implementation," the report said.

Czelusta said he's not surprised that the report takes aim at Christians.

"Vermont used to be conservative, libertarian-style conservative. That changed when the 'back-to-nature' people moved to Vermont in the '60s and '70s. Vermont now has pride in its liberalism," Czelusta said.

Czelusta believes that the task force's report will be gladly embraced in Burlington.

"Burlington will applaud this task force report. According to the school's website, the entire council approved the report – unanimously!" Czelusta said.

Touting the report's value, in her "Superintendent's Blog" Burlington Supt. Jeanne Collins said it is focused on "strategic action."

"The report includes recommendations for strategic action by the district in four domains: Leadership, Climate, Curriculum, and Human Resources. Many of these recommendations already are under way; others are forging new ground for the district. 'This report is thorough and deep,'" Collins wrote, quoting herself.

"'With this many passionate and dedicated community members behind us, there is no way we can fail as we move forward to build a culturally competent and inclusive school environment,'" Collins wrote.

In an interview with WND, Collins echoed the statement that appears on her blog.

"The report is the work of a task force of community members. The task force was appointed by the school board and charged with the request to identify and research and provide best practices around being an inclusive and welcoming environment in the schools," Collins said.

"The task force wrote the report, so I can't really comment on the language they need to use," Collins said.

Collins said the report was received by the school board, not completely adopted "lock, stock and barrel." She also said a committee was formed to work on implementing the report's findings.

"The new committee is charged with going through the report and developing a strategic plan for the district. The task force was disbanded and now we have a diversity, equity committee on the board that just began their work," Collins said.

"This coming Tuesday, that committee is taking one section, the section on leadership section, and going through that section and making recommendations. They'll do the same thing with the other sections," Collins said.

Collins promises she will include all of Burlington's cultures, including those who are part of the "Judeo-Christian culture."

"Absolutely. The goal of the school board is to build an inclusive, welcoming environment for all of our population regardless of religion, race, any other characteristic. That's the goal of the school board and that's the goal of the commission," Collins said. "The goal of a strategic plan is to ensure that we have a welcoming environment for all."

Czelusta is skeptical of how open Burlington schools will actually be. He said the current Vermont political climate is ripe for producing a report that is openly critical of the state's Christian heritage.

"Vermont has the lowest state average of church attendance in the country. Because there is no 'church culture' the minority of evangelical Christians are deeply committed to their faith," Czelusta said.

"Politically and culturally, conservatives in Vermont are found in the Rutland area and in the northeast corner where I am located, called the Northeast Kingdom. We love living here even though there is pressure to conform to the dominant liberal culture," Czelusta said.

"Burlington is Vermont's largest city, small by other standards. It is the crown jewel of Vermont liberalism. Democrat is not liberal enough; Burlington is a progressive stronghold. 'Green' is the mantra, at the expense of everything else," Czelusta said.

"Burlington likes being progressive. These progressives think that the rest of America that thinks differently is misled. After Obamacare has been derided by the majority of Americans, Vermont is doing it on the statewide level to show the rest of America wrong," Czelusta also said.

The pastor also said that Vermont is proud to have led the nation in liberalizing the marriage issue.

"Vermont is the birthplace of civil unions and proud of it. When Vermont passed gay marriage, the new governor personally presided over a gay marriage. There is a liberal arrogance here that is found in few places," Czelusta said.

The report also suggested whites are racist simply because they have been in the majority in the state's history.

WND has reported on anti-Christian and anti-white rhetoric flooding into America's education system. Earlier, several school districts in Minnesota were criticized for sending teachers – in the midst of budget shortfalls that have prompted the layoffs of some educators – to a Minneapolis conference that provided instruction in "white privilege" and how it should be defeated.

It was the 12th annual "White Privilege Conference."

An organization called the Minnesota Justice Collaborative acted as host, and partner sponsors included Hamline University, Augsburg College, Gustavus Adolphus, The Denver Foundation, University of St. Thomas and the National Center for Race Amity.

Its website explains that its premise is that the U.S. was started by white people, for white people, and it examines "concepts of privilege and oppression and offers solutions and team building strategies to work toward a more equitable world."

WND also previously reported when a lawyer for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus confirmed to an educational rights organization that a plan described by a critic as teaching America as a "hellhole" wasn't adopted after it came about because of brainstorming efforts by the education department.

The issue of the program at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities was raised by The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education at the time.

The group questioned President Robert Bruinicks about the legality of the program. The proposal included the suggestion of examinations of teacher candidates on "white privilege" as well as "remedial re-education" for those who hold the "wrong" views.

FIRE later announced that in response to its pressure on the university, officials there were backing away from their plans "to enforce a political litmus test."

"The plans from its College of Education and Human Development involved redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of 'cultural competence," the FIRE announced.

"Those with the 'wrong' views were to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether," the group said.

Such demands appeared to be similar to those promoted earlier at the University of Delaware.

As WND reported, the Delaware university's office of residential life was caught requiring students to participate in a program that taught "all whites are racist."

School officials immediately defended the teaching, but in the face of a backlash from alumni and publicity about its work, the school decided to drop the curriculum, although some factions later suggested its revival.

FIRE, which challenged the Delaware plan, later produced a video explaining how the institution pushed for the teachings, was caught and later backed off: