Teachers and civil rights activists are organizing and preparing to go to court to stop conservatives’ efforts to block curriculum about institutional racism.
Why it matters: “It is the modern-day Scopes trial,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten tells Axios, recalling the 1925 case over teaching evolution.
- Legislators in nearly half of U.S. states in recent months have passed or introduced proposals to constrain lessons about how racism has shaped the nation’s history and political and economic systems.
- Conservative groups also are driving recall campaigns against school board members around the U.S.
Driving the news: Weingarten said her union will defend teachers’ right to teach American history — and will aggressively protect any educator accused of violating such new laws and restrictions.
- “We’re looking at court actions because these laws conflict with standards and our licensure requirements and our professional obligations,” she said.
- Union delegates with the National Education Association earlier this month voted to expand the teaching of anti-racism and diversity in American classrooms, despite the growing backlash.
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 79 other civil rights and education groups recently released a statement calling anti-racism classroom lessons a student right needing to be defended.
The big picture: This backlash against critical race theory comes as school systems grow more diverse and many parents welcome…
