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Updated: November 7, 2022 @ 5:46 am
River Bluff High School in Lexington County School District One.
State Rep. R.J. May, R-Lexington, serves as vice chairman of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus, known for its hardline conservatism. File/Staff
K-12 Education Reporter
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River Bluff High School in Lexington County School District One.
State Rep. R.J. May, R-Lexington, serves as vice chairman of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus, known for its hardline conservatism. File/Staff
COLUMBIA — A right-wing legislative group now admits it had a role in editing an audio recording that became the basis of a Fox News report attacking a South Carolina school district.
The admission from the South Carolina Freedom Caucus comes a day after a Post and Courier article that quoted claims the clip had been doctored from the CEO of a nonprofit education group that employs the person speaking on the recording.
State Rep. R.J. May, R-Lexington, previously said his group did not create the recording of an EL Education employee, purportedly instructional specialist Tarika Sullivan. But on Nov. 1 he acknowledged that members of his organization altered the raw footage they received.
May said the S.C. Freedom Caucus removed the voice of the person who provided them with the audio in order to protect the identity of that person, described by May as a “whistleblower.” The caucus also edited background noise from the conversation, May said, but he denied altering the speaker’s words.
Scott Hartl, president and CEO of the New-York based nonprofit EL Education, said Oct. 31 that the speaker on the recording is an EL employee but did not confirm it was Sullivan. He said the speaker was recorded without consent under false pretenses by a hotel employee who pretended to be interested in her work.
Remarks from different parts of their conversation appear on the clip without any context on what came in between. At one point, she references the Lexington One School District, one of several in the state that contracts with EL Education. Later she mentions critical race theory.
But the fragments give no indication as to what she was responding to at any point, including whether she was discussing her own work or views or answering a pointed question about someone else. The clip created a “false and crudely edited narrative,” Hartl said on Oct. 31. Whether the audio had also been edited prior to the caucus receiving it remains unclear, as does the date of the recording.
May denies that the resulting audio misrepresents what the speaker said, which he said was to tout a critical race theory curriculum for Lexington County School District One.
“The far left will stop at nothing to destroy those who challenge their radical ideology,” May said. “Therefore, the video was edited to ensure the protection of the whistleblower. In doing so, we preserved the integrity and intent of Mrs. Sullivan’s words.”
Also on Nov. 1, Fox News updated its article from the week prior after the Post and Courier pointed out a misquotation of the audio.
Since 2013 EL Education has worked with six schools in the Columbia area, all of them in Lexington County School District One, which is the state’s sixth-largest district at more than 27,000 students, including from the towns of Lexington, Gilbert and Pelion.
Hartl said the nonprofit’s research is “based on the science of reading and learning.” The most prominent example of the role EL plays in Lexington One is likely the “Crew” program at River Bluff High School, which is a team-building program for teachers, and for students is a random grouping of them — regardless of background or grade level — to organically foster study groups and mentorships.
The S.C. Freedom Caucus said in a statement that EL Education is actively attempting to “circumvent state law” by teaching critical race theory to students.
Lexington One spokeswoman Megan Moore said the comments heard on the recording “do not represent the views or educational practices” of the school district.
EL Education also works with schools in Charleston and Greenville counties.
“Lexington District One will continue to look into this matter and is committed to ensuring all Lexington District One schools adhere to South Carolina standards and statutes,” Moore said in an Oct. 25 statement.
Click here for more news from Columbia, S.C.
K-12 Education Reporter
T. Michael covers education in the Columbia area. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina and communications at the University of Denver, and worked as a reporter covering Denver Public Schools.
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