Tennessee Lawmakers Give Even More Money To Testing Company That Champions “Woke” Ideology

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

Tennessee lawmakers voted to give approximately $40 million more to a testing company whose ideology directly contradicts the state’s legislative efforts to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) programs.

Based in Britain, Pearson – who administers Tennessee’s standardized testing of K-12 students – is the largest educational publisher in the world. According to Heritage Foundation scholar Jonathan Butcher, the company’s editorial guidelines make it clear that Pearson wants to make “radical ideas, such as “antiracism,” “colorism,” “colonial discourse,” “genderism,” and “intersectionality,” part of everything it does.”

Tennessee lawmakers have been actively fighting against this kind of “woke” ideology being taught in K-12 public schools but last month the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Review Committee voted to extend Pearson’s contract to administer TNReady for an additional year, increasing the total to be paid to them from $93 million to $132 million. As part of the increase, Pearson will make changes that align with paper-based tests as well as improve data they provide for instructional purposes.

After Butcher began looking into Pearson’s ideology, links and videos corroborating his findings started to vanish from the company’s website and YouTube channel. Pearson’s editorial standards have also been taken down.

After Butcher began looking into Pearson’s ideology, links and videos corroborating his findings started to vanish from the company’s website and YouTube channel. Pearson’s editorial standards have also been taken down.

Pearson’s influence extends even beyond students. They oversee a company that operates USA Hire, a website operated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management which applicants use to submit materials for positions in the federal government. 

The company also operates a teacher assessment program called edTPA. EdTPA assesses if teachers qualify for a teaching license, something required by 600 plus universities in more than 40 states.

In a video that Pearson ended up deleting from its website, and setting to private on its YouTube channel, speakers claim that systemic racism in America keep black Americans from doing as well as other groups.

LaWanda Stone, Pearson’s Corporate Affairs Director, is seen in the video, which can be viewed here, saying, “Education is such a force for equity and change, yet systemic racism is holding back black and other ethnically diverse people in a vicious cycle.”

Director of Media Relations for Pearson, Joe Wiggins has said that CRT isn’t included in any Pearson K-12 curriculum. Nevertheless, Butcher notes that Pearson includes extensive DEI in its editorial standards, something American parents are speaking out against in school board meetings all across the country.

Butcher found that most of Pearson’s DEI programs are in training materials for K-12 and university teachers to help them incorporate CRT in classrooms, something currently outlawed in Tennessee.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.