West Cook News

Former Oak Park Elementary School District Superintendent Carol Kelley is under fire in her new job, facing criticism by Princeton, NJ parents who claim she is watering down their schools' curriculum in an effort to equalize the test scores of black and white students there.

A letter slamming Kelley, who just completed her first year as Princeton schools superintendent, accuses her of systemically "leveling down" coursework in the district, spending hundreds of thousands in taxpayer funds on "ideological" "racial equity" consultants and public relations firms, then "(engaging) in what can only be called a cover-up" when confronted by parents opposing the changes.

"It is shocking to us that the leadership of the district is dissembling like this," a group of Princeton parents wrote.

According to a 85-page report produced by parents to rebuke Kelley, titled An Inequitable New Approach to Equity in Princeton Public Schools, she formed a "math committee" and hired a "racial equity" consultant named Eric Milou, who recommended that -- in the name of equalizing black and white grades and test scores-- all Princeton students would take the same math classes through tenth grade, "regardless of aptitude or interest in math." 

Milou also proposed eliminating calculus classes from Princeton High School and no longer allowing students at Princeton Middle School to take Algebra I.

When parents got word of the changes, Kelley, who earns $240,000 per year, denied Milou made such recommendations and, in responding to an Open Public Records Act request to see his report, released "only a heavily redacted version... that (concealed) his recommendations."

"District administrators engaged in what could only be called a cover-up," the parents wrote. "If there is truly 'nothing to see here'... then why is the district hiding from the community what Milou recommended and why?"

Kelley has "repeatedly misrepresented (the report) to the public.

In their report, parents detailed Kelley's race-based curriculum changes in Oak Park District 97 schools, where she eliminated advanced classes for white and Asian students, presenting them as evidence of her intent in Princeton.

"Kelley pushed to end a math acceleration program for 3rd-5th graders in 2017 (in Oak Park) because data showed that the students identified as needing accelerated instruction" were white, the parents wrote. "Data from Oak Park show this reform has lowered the achievement of students denies acceleration without improving outcomes for other students."

"Parents at Oak Park were evidently (also) kept out of the loop on this reform (by Kelley), to their great frustration," they wrote.

"You're talking about outcomes for brown kids"

Appearing Monday on the podcast of Brown University economics professor and Chicago native Glenn Loury, Columbia University professor and author John McWhorter called the Princeton approach "dumbing down math in the name of equity."

"This business of equity of outcomes means that you dumb it down, and that's supposed to be a gift to people of our complexion. I'm sick of this," he said.

"You're talking about outcomes for brown kids," McWhorter said. "It means that you're going to just lop off calculus because brown kids aren't as good at it. Just lop it off."

"What Carol Kelley thinks is... that it's an unreasonable demand to impose something as challenging as calculus upon brown kids," he said. "All that is is an outgrowth. It is one reflection of the grand old idea that it is not authentically black to be nerdy. Because a Carol Kelley 50 years ago would have thought certainly that (black) children should have had the same access to calculus as white kids."

"I am revolted by this. Carol Kelley is doing the race wrong," he said.

Kelley spent six years as superintendent of District 97 before resigning in Feb. 2021 to take the Princeton job. She worked previously as superintendent of Branchburg Township School District in Somerset County, NJ.

Last month, Oak Park and River Forest High School denied similar "race based" changes to curriculum and grading, after reports detailing them generated a public outcry.