Democratic state Sen. Casey Weinstein has jumped into an online feud with Libs of TikTok, calling them “bigoted terrorists,” after they exposed a school in his district for sneaking in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion under a different name.
Hudson City Schools is being called out for changing the name of its DEI coordinator to the Coordinator of Engagement and Achievement. That prompted social media backlash after Libs of TikTok revealed that Hudson City Schools forgot to change the name of their DEI director on some of the district’s web pages.
This comes while the Ohio legislature considers a bill to eliminate all DEI programs in K-12 schools. Republican Sen. Andy Brenner testified in support of Senate Bill 113 on Tuesday at the bill’s first reading in committee, according to WCPO 9 News.
“DEI doesn't stand for diversity, equity and inclusion. It stands for division, exclusion and indoctrination,” Brenner said.
Senate Bill 113 bans training on DEI-related programs, bans the creation of DEI offices, and forces the closure of existing DEI offices. It prohibits programs under DEI offices from moving under other offices and operating under different titles.
The Hudson City Schools’ DEI Overview webpage now says under construction. Under the staff directory, Nyree Wilkerson’s title is listed as coordinator of engagement and achievement, but she was slow to change it on her LinkedIn page.
“They also forgot to tell her to change her title on LinkedIn. Here are the receipts. They’re trying to rebrand DEI and thought nobody would notice. Strip them of their funding @usedgov,” Libs of TikTok posted on X.
Weinstein then jumped into the feud, posting on Facebook: “To the bigoted terrorists at Libs of TikTok targeting MY KIDS’ SCHOOLS, our children and our teachers in Hudson: Stay the hell out of our town.”
Weinstein linked to a February 2024 article from NBC News about 21 bomb threats at schools following a post by Chaya Raichik, the creator of Libs of TikTok.
Weinstein also recently made controversial statements regarding parents of unvaccinated children, saying he believes they should be prosecuted if an unvaccinated child dies from a preventable disease, according to an X post by Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom.
The feud follows last week’s deadline for schools to comply with the U.S. Department of Education’s Dear Colleague letter that threatened to rescind federal funds for schools that use race-conscious practices in admissions, programming, training, hiring, scholarships, and other aspects of student life.
Across the country, it seems districts are scrambling to interpret the Dear Colleague letter and “rebranding” DEI into a more general focus on belonging for all. These efforts started during President Donald Trump’s first term, when he signed an executive order that banned certain types of diversity training in federal agencies, according to this Education Week article from May 2024.
At least 18 states have banned or restricted instruction about race, gender, and related topics in public schools.
In 2021, Ohio’s House Republicans introduced a bill to ban the teaching of critical race theory, but it never became law. But even if the bill had been passed, an undercover video obtained by the right-leaning watchdog group Accuracy in Media (AIM) makes it “clear that these school administrators would have worked around it,” according to the watchdog group.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Ohio Senate Bill 1 had its first hearing in the House Workforce & Higher Education Committee. According to its sponsors, the bill targets diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in higher education, bans faculty strikes, and promotes intellectual diversity.
The state Senate approved the legislation last month, and, according to key Republican lawmakers, it’s likely to advance in the House without a significant rewrite this session.
The U.S. Department of Education also launched an online “End DEI” portal for parents and others to report “illegal discriminatory practices at institutions of learning” in K-12 schools.
