Who is Akiea Gross? Woke Kindergarten controversy explained as founder claims the "U.S. has no right to exist” in viral video

A Bay Area elementary school in San Francisco hired a for-profit company Woke Kindergarten to train its teachers and boost test scores. However, after spending $250,000 in federal money over two years, the school recently reported that the test scores have been worse, especially in maths and reading.

As per Fox News, under 12 percent of students at Glassbrook Elementary in Hayward can read fluently, while less than 4 percent are skilled in maths. An overall 4 percent drop in both areas was also reported, making it one of the lowest performances in the state of California.

In the wake of this news, Woke Kindergarten is facing criticism for its inability to improve test scores. Not only that but the for-profit is also being slammed for its “woke” approach to early education, for instance exhibiting “woke word of the day” on its website such as “ceasefire” and “abolish.”

Meanwhile, Woke Kindergarten’s founder Akiea Gross recently took to the organization’s official Instagram account and declared:

“I believe that the United States has no right to exist.”

The remark has been receiving severe backlash online.

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Exploring Akiea Gross and Woke Kindergarten Controversy

In the wake of the Bay Area elementary school controversy, netizens scrutinized Woke Kindergarten’s website. Upon research, it was revealed that the for-profit describes itself as “supporting children, families, educators, and organizations in their commitment to abolitionist early education and pro-black, and queer, and trans liberation.”

Apart from “woke word of the day,” the website also has “woke read alouds,” “lil comrade convos,” “teach Palestine,” “whatchu mean?!” and “woke wonderings.”

The last in the list challenges the “legitimacy of the Supreme Court,” while preaching abolishment of the police, money, and the military. Likewise, it also has a “wondering” asking, “If the United States defunded the Israeli military, how could this money be used to rebuild Palestine?”

Amidst this revelation, Akiea “Ki” Gross (they/them), the founder of Woke Kindergarten took to the foundation’s Instagram and announced that “the rumors are true” and they are “anti-Israel” and “pro-Palestine.” However, that’s not all they said.

“I am 100 percent ten toes down anti-Israel. I believe Israel has no right to exist. I believe the United States has no right to exist. I believe every settler colony who has committed genocide against native people, against indigenous people has no right to exist,” Gross stated.

The abolitionist early educator (since 2008) also went on record to say how they believed in a “Free Palestine from the river to the sea,” and that one day the country would be free.

From here, they went on to say how “white supremacy destroys for the sake of destruction” which was in no way similar to “abolition” which “destroys for the sake of creation.”

Akiea Gross, who is also a cultural organizer and creator with the motto “resist, heal, liberate, and create,” further continued by saying how they have unwavering love, respect, compassion, care, and commitment to children, their freedom, their learning, their sustenance, and their lives, and wishes to save them from the worldly demons and villains.

Previously, Gross, who has been supporting independent Black women artists since 2018, has called Israel a “made-up place,” as per Toronto Sun.

As soon as the Maryland native’s remarks became viral, they earned severe backlash online. Here are some of them from @ImMeme0’s tweet.

Akiea Gross’ comments have intensified the existing Woke Kindergarten controversy and are now earning heat for charging thousands of dollars in federal funds, without contributing to the improvement of the students’ test scores.

However, Hayward Unified School District Superintendent Jason Reimann told the San Francisco Chronicle that after appointing Woke Kindergarten to train the teachers, attendance level has gone up by 20 percent.

Reimann also added how the foundation’s hiring was not just approved by the school district board, but also by parents and teachers. The goal, according to the superintendent was to help students “feel safe” and boost their academic performance.

Meanwhile, a trainee teacher named Tiger Craven-Neeley told the news outlet how the trainers of Woke Kindergarten used the phrase “so-called United States” and asked them to “disrupt[ing] whiteness” inside classrooms, which made him question their pedagogy, and eventually led to his temporary ban.