In Tennessee and most other conservative states in the country, new laws against critical race theory are affecting the small but important decisions educators make every day.
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Tennessee’s largest teacher organization has joined five public school teachers in a lawsuit against a two-year state law that restricted what they could teach about race, gender and classroom bias.
Their lawsuit, filed Tuesday night in Nashville federal court by attorneys for the Tennessee Education Association, alleges the wording of the 2021 law is vague and unconstitutional and the state’s enforcement plan is subjective.
The complaint also alleges that Tennessee’s so-called “forbidden concepts” laws interfere with the teaching of difficult but important topics included in the state’s academic standards. These standards set out the state-approved learning objectives that guide other curriculum and testing decisions.
The lawsuit is the first legal action against a controversial state law, the first of its kind nationwide. The legislation was passed amid backlash from conservatives against America’s crackdown on racism following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis and the anti-racism protests that followed.
Oak Ridge Rep. John Ragan, one of the bill’s Republican sponsors, argued that the legislation is needed to protect K-12 students from what he and other lawmakers see as misleading and divisive social notions of sexuality, such as critical racial theory. . Teacher surveys show that this academic foundation is not taught in K-12 schools, but is more commonly used in higher education to explore how politics and law perpetuate systemic racism.
The Republican-controlled Tennessee Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill in the final days of the 2021 session, days after it was introduced. Governor Bill Lee quickly signed it into law, and later that year the state Department of Education drafted rules for implementing it. If violations are found, teachers may lose their licenses and school districts may lose public funding.
In the first two years, the law was in force, with only a few complaints and no fines. But Ragan has introduced new legislation that expands the circle of people who can file complaints.
The complaint alleges that the law does not provide Tennessee educators with a reasonable opportunity to learn what conduct and teaching is prohibited.
“Teachers are in this gray area where we don’t know what we can or can’t do or say in the classroom,” said Katherine Vaughn, a veteran teacher from Tipton County near Memphis and one of the five educators plaintiffs. ” In this case.
“Implementation of the law — from leadership to training — is virtually non-existent,” Vaughn added. “This puts educators in a stalemate.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the law encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement and violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits any state from “depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
“The law needs clarity,” said Tanya Coates, president of TEA, the teacher group that is leading the lawsuit.
She said educators spend “countless hours” trying to understand 14 concepts that are illegal and in the classroom, including that America is “essentially or hopelessly racist or sexist”; “taking responsibility” for the past actions of other members of the same race or gender because of their race or gender.
The ambiguity of these terms has had a chilling effect on schools, from the way teachers respond to students’ questions to the material they read in class, TEA reports. To avoid time-consuming complaints and the risk of possible fines from the state, school leaders have made changes to teaching and school activities. But in the end, Coats says it is the students who suffer.
”This law hinders the work of Tennessee teachers in providing students with a comprehensive, evidence-based education,” Coates said in a press release.
The 52-page lawsuit provides specific examples of how the ban impacts what nearly a million Tennessee public school students study and don’t study every day.
”In Tipton County, for example, a school has switched its annual field trip to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis to watch a baseball game. In Shelby County, a choirmaster who has taught students for decades to sing and understand the story behind the hymns they sing will be considered enslaved people.” split” or violation of the ban,” the lawsuit states.Other school districts have removed books from their curriculum because of the law.
The Governor’s office does not normally comment on pending lawsuits, but spokesman Lee Jed Byers issued a statement Wednesday regarding the lawsuit: “The Governor signed this bill because every parent should be responsible for their child’s education. Be honest, Tennessee students. history and civics should be taught based on facts and not on divisive political commentary.”
Tennessee was one of the first states to pass laws to limit the depth of classroom discussion of such concepts as inequality and white privilege.
In March, the Tennessee Department of Education reported that few complaints had been filed with local school districts as required by law. The agency received only a few appeals against local decisions.
One was from the parent of a private school student in Davidson County. Because the law does not apply to private schools, the department has determined that parents do not have the right to appeal under the law.
Another complaint was filed by a Blount County parent in connection with Wings of the Dragon, a novel told from the perspective of a Chinese immigrant boy in the early 20th century. The state dismissed the appeal based on its findings.
However, Blount County schools still removed the book from the sixth grade curriculum. The lawsuit describes the emotional damage the lawsuit caused to a 45-year-old veteran educator who was “embarrassed by months of administrative litigation over a single parent’s complaint about an award-winning teen book.” Her work “In Danger” is approved by the Department of Tennessee. education and adopted by the local school board as part of the district curriculum. “
The department also declined to investigate a complaint filed by Williamson County, south of Nashville, shortly after the law was passed. Robin Steenman, local president of Freedom Moms, said the Wit and Wisdom literacy program used by Williamson County schools in 2020-21 has a “heavily biased agenda” that causes children to “hate their country and each other” . and others.” / or themselves. “
A spokesperson said the department is only authorized to investigate the claims starting in the 2021-22 school year and encouraged Stillman to work with Williamson County schools to resolve her concerns.
Department officials did not immediately respond Wednesday when asked if the state had received more appeals in recent months.
Under current state policy, only students, parents, or employees of a school district or charter school may file a complaint about their school. The Ragan bill, co-sponsored by Senator Joey Hensley, Hornwald, would allow any resident of the school district to file a complaint.
But critics argue that such a change would open the door for conservative groups like Liberal Moms to complain to local school boards about teaching, books or materials that they believe violate the law, even if they are not directly related to schools. Problematic teacher or school.
The Prohibition Concept Act is distinct from the Tennessee Act of 2022, which, based on appeals from local school board decisions, empowers a state commission to ban books from school libraries statewide if they deem them “inappropriate for a student’s age or maturity level.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include a comment from the Governor’s office and one of the plaintiffs.
Martha W. Aldrich is a senior reporter covering events at the Tennessee State Capitol. Please contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.
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Post time: Jul-28-2023