Rep. Stefanik accuses NY state of using COVID relief funds to push critical race theory

Originally Published on Fox News

Stefanik said in a letter to the department that she has 'serious concern' about how they are using federal tax dollars

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wants to know how the New York Education Department is using federal coronavirus relief money, expressing concern that it is being used to promote critical race theory in public schools.

In a letter to Education Commissioner Betty Rosa obtained by Fox News and first reported by the New York Post, Stefanik noted that the state’s plan for spending the relief funds included dealing with "anti-racism and anti-bias," as well as "implicit bias" and "privilege," and not just the effects of the pandemic on learning and academics.

"I write with serious concern that the New York State Education Department (NYSED) is using federal taxpayer dollars provided through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund to promote Critical Race Theory under the guise of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education (CRSE)," Stefanik wrote in the letter, sent Friday.

"Shrouding the racist and divisive ideology of Critical Race Theory with vague and seemingly innocuous terminology does not diminish the harm it poses to students," she said…