Heinemann is a for-profit publisher and provider of educational resources for teachers from kindergarten through college. The company is a division of Houghton Miffin Harcourt.

The company is also a provider of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consulting and materials for public school districts. The company also sponsors podcasts and other media presentations on DEI-related topics that are targeted at teachers. ¹ at least four public school districts have retained Heinemann’s services for DEI consulting and materials as of late 2021. ²

In 2021, the website featured a blog post by former Obama administration official and ACLU lawyer Robert Kim on anti-critical race theory laws that were enacted by numerous states. The blog post downplayed the radical left origins of CRT and claimed that the origins to the opposition of CRT was due to the actions of former President Donald Trump and his banning of CRT-based trainings in the federal government in 2020. The blog post also showed ways for teachers and school administrators to get around the laws. ³

Overview

Heinemann is a for-profit publisher and provider of educational resources for teachers in all grade levels. The company is also a major provider of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consulting and resources to school districts and teachers across the country. ⁴

The company was established in 1978 as the U.S. subsidiary of Heinemann UK. The company acquired Boynton/Cook, a leading publisher of English books for middle and high school teachers and college English teachers in 1987. Eventually, the company was acquired by Houghton Miffin Harcourt. ⁵

The company provides podcasts and media productions to support its DEI consulting and materials. On one podcast, it featured teachers who wanted to give tips on how to provide “antiracist teaching.” Another podcast episode was titled “Dismantling Racism in Education.” ⁶

The company also sponsors events designed to promote its DEI consulting. One such event was the virtual Institutes for Racial Equity in Literacy that was held in the summer of 2021. ⁷

Critical Race Theory Promotion Blog Post

In 2021, states all over the country began taking action to ban the teaching of the Marxist-inspired and radical Critical Race Theory in K-12 public schools. Heinemann blogger and former Obama administration official and former ACLU lawyer Robert Kim wrote a blog post detailing the laws and regulations implemented by some states and how teachers could adapt to them. ⁸

In the blog post, Kim downplayed the radical roots of CRT describing it as a movement similar to feminist and other legal theory movements born in the 1970s. He also praised CRT as “[contributing] to a deeper understanding of how race has been constructed in and impacted the United States. “ ⁹

Kim also claimed that many of the anti-CRT laws which banned the portrayal of any race as inherently racist had nothing to do with CRT. ¹⁰

Kim also went to state that teachers could still teach about racism in school. He also advocated teachers to contact groups like the ACLU and their legislators about opposing these laws. ¹¹

Finally, he claimed that the anti-CRT movement was started by the Trump administration in 2020 when it enacted regulations banning CRT in the federal government. ¹²

Leadership

Vicki Boyd is the general manager for Heinemann as worked in her current role since 2017. She started with Heinemann as the director of professional development. She previously served as the special assistant for education policy under former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D). ¹³

Work With Public School Districts

Heinemann has worked with at least four school districts across the country. They are the Torrance Unified School District in California, the Berlin Public Schools in Connecticut, Naperville CUSD 203 in Illinois, and West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional SD in New Jersey. ¹⁴

The contract with the Berlin Public Schools was signed in 2020 and is worth $48,215 for resources and books including access to “We Got This, Equity.” ¹⁵

1.     “Heinemann”. 2021. Parents Defending Education. Accessed December 6. https://defendinged.org/report/heinemann/.
2. “Heinemann”. 2021. Parents Defending Education. Accessed December 6. https://defendinged.org/report/heinemann/.
3. Kim, Robert. 2021. “What Critical Race Theory Is And What It Means For Teachers”. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/critical-race-theory-q-and-a.
4. “Heinemann”. 2021. Parents Defending Education. Accessed December 6. https://defendinged.org/report/heinemann/.
5. “About Heinemann”. 2021. Heinemann. Accessed December 6. https://www.heinemann.com/aboutus.aspx.
6. “Heinemann”. 2021. Parents Defending Education. Accessed December 6. https://defendinged.org/report/heinemann/.
7. “Reasons People Are Attending #IREL21 This Summer”. 2021. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/reasons-people-are-attending-the-institutes-for-racial-equity-in-literacy-this-summer.
8. Kim, Robert. 2021. “What Critical Race Theory Is And What It Means For Teachers”. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/critical-race-theory-q-and-a.
9. Kim, Robert. 2021. “What Critical Race Theory Is And What It Means For Teachers”. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/critical-race-theory-q-and-a.
10. Kim, Robert. 2021. “What Critical Race Theory Is And What It Means For Teachers”. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/critical-race-theory-q-and-a.
11. Kim, Robert. 2021. “What Critical Race Theory Is And What It Means For Teachers”. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/critical-race-theory-q-and-a.
12. Kim, Robert. 2021. “What Critical Race Theory Is And What It Means For Teachers”. Heinemann. https://blog.heinemann.com/critical-race-theory-q-and-a.
13. “Our Leadership”. 2021. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Accessed December 6. https://www.hmhco.com/about-us#our-leadership.
14. “Heinemann”. 2021. Parents Defending Education. Accessed December 6. https://defendinged.org/report/heinemann/.
15. “Heinemann”. 2021. Parents Defending Education. Accessed December 6. https://defendinged.org/report/heinemann/.