Virginia school steers $24,000 to consulting firm for equity training, race programs for teachers

A Loudoun County, Virginia, high school dished out $24,000 to a racial equity firm that had already collected nearly half a million dollars from the county for providing race programs, documents show.

Wayde Byard, the public information officer for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), did not say what services the group provided but said Title I Funds covered the contract. Such funds must go towards helping low-income students meet state academic standards.  The contract appears to be the first between a Virginia school and the Equity Collaborative. However, it comes on the heels of the county pushing $500,000 in funds to the group for programs designed to counter systematic bias and oppression. Loudoun County has further laid out plans to allocate more than $6 million for "equity" and "equity training" in its 2022 fiscal year budget, although it is unclear what the cash will cover. Byard told Fox News that "the majority - $5.49 million or 90% - is to provide equitable access to instruction and resources for our 85,867 projected students."