School districts that fail to educate students in basics such as math and reading are spending money on “anti- racism ” and diversity training instead of focusing on the bigger problem.

There are two schools from California' s Martinez Unified School District that will spend more than $100,000 over the next three years on a program called “Student Leaders’ Anti-Racist Movement.”

The program will reportedly train students to “lead the work of anti-racism in ways that are most meaningful to them.”

The two schools involved in the initiative “fall well below state averages in academic performance,” according to the Center Square.

The news outlet reported that “73.9% of Alhambra Senior High students [are] failing state math standards and 65.2% of Martinez Junior High students [are] failing state math standards compared to a statewide average of 65% failing math.”

These schools are not alone in embracing "woke" ideology instead of spending that extra money on more tutors, teacher’s aides, or other resources to help students succeed.

Chicago Public Schools runs its own “Office of Equity,” which includes a “chief equity, engagement, strategy officer,” an executive director, and a director of “racial equity initiatives.” Other team members at CPS include an “equity experience and belonging fellow” and an “equity program manager.” The work of this $1.8 million office includes renaming schools or mascots that are supposedly offensive.

The district also wants to support “schools within the CPS design team to leverage liberatory thinking and targeted universalism” to “improve student/teacher relationships in an effort to foster a more collaborative and student-centered environment.”

At the same time, Chicago Public Schools struggles to educate its students — 80% of its 11th graders are not proficient in reading and math.

One reason? Nearly half of students were “chronically absent” from class.

An analysis from the website Wirepoints found that 22 Chicago schools lack a single student who can “read at grade level.” There are 33 Chicago schools in which not a single student can do math at grade level, the publication concluded.

The embrace of “anti-racism” and critical race theory within schools is not just a problem of spending money. CPS does spend money on tutors and teacher’s aides, of course.

But creating the mindset that all racial disparities are due to racism, as “anti-racism” expert Ibram X. Kendi says , leads teachers and students to believe that their lack of learning is due to racism, not effort and knowledge.

Lori Watson, the trainer for the Martinez public schools, is clear on her racial worldview. “Black people Amerika hates you,” she wrote on social media, using the “k” to say America is like the Ku Klux Klan. This is who trains students and teachers.

The poor educational outcomes for these students must be due to racism, DEI consultants would say. Billionaire-backed efforts also claim racism is behind students underachieving in math.

The Bill Gates-funded “Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction” initiative states , “White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions,” adding, “Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics."

School districts and schools are not completely responsible for the outcomes of their students, as external factors such as income and family life can make a difference. But they can choose to spend money wisely to help students succeed in valuable skills, not becoming “anti-racism” leaders.

Matt Lamb is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is an associate editor for the College Fix and has previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA.