“Critical race theory” is the political kerosene du jour. This weekend, Republicans in the state senate passed a bill that would ban Texas public school teachers from presenting material about state-imposed racial inequities and historical facts that might reflect poorly on White people. That’s it in a nutshell.
The legislation is designed to spare White students any “guilt and anguish” that might result from knowing what their fellow classmates of color have endured. At its core, it insults White students, assuming they will dissolve in a heap if confronted with an expanded narrative. This confounds me. Texas students need better schools. Tools for critical thinking.
HB 3979 includes curriculum that requires the study of the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers, which is already law. What’s new is that teachers must “to the best of their ability” provide neutral instruction on “sensitive” current events, such as the January 6 riot at the Capitol. They must provide diverse perspectives (my brain just pulled up a tape of “very fine people on both sides”). If they don’t, parents or students would have the legal tools to call foul, though the bill does not specify the process by which districts are supposed to handle potential allegations or consequences for breaking the law. In that sense, the bill is merely performative.
Many hours of debate were expended on the issue, at a time when Texas ranks 35th nationally for K-12 quality of education. For context, my home state of Kentucky ranked 33. Think: Texas trails Kentucky. And with representatives’ extremely limited time to legislate, the use of precious hours playing politics is indefensible. (The bill passed out of the Senate at nearly 2 a.m. on Saturday morning and now heads to the House.)
As we might say in No.33 ranked Kentucky—when we aren’t frog giggin’ or defending Rousseau’s underlying conservatism, both of which are personal memories— don’t y’all have bigger fish to fry?
The Texas Education Agency’s recent stats on race distribution make the legislation even more curious. The student body at Texas public schools is 52.8 percent Hispanic, 27 percent White, 12.6 percent Black, 4.6 percent Asian, and 2.5 percent multi-racial. So who are we protecting from what? Listen, as a college student who concentrated on the Western canon, my favorite book is the Federalist Papers. I hold the liberty to act, think, learn, question, work, serve, worship, and love dear to my heart. But I also learned to question moral equivalency, which is what this bill is requiring of Texas teachers.
Bethany Erickson at our sister publication, People Newspapers, has the play-by-play and a video of the debate. Here is a taste:
Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) said that the texts chosen as foundation were not selected with input from a diverse audience.
“There were documents that were chosen, not by Hispanics, not by African Americans in this body, but by Anglos,” he said. “No input from us in terms of what founding documents should in fact be considered by all children in this state.”
West did manage to get an amendment passed that requires the TEKS to address the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964; the 13th, 14th, and 19th amendments; and “the complexity of the historic relationship between Texas and Mexico, and the diversity of the Hispanic population.”
The bill still requires teachers to explore current events from varying perspectives, “without giving deference to any one perspective.” It also still prevents students from getting course credit for civic engagement efforts.
Legislators also questioned whether this bill would imperil teachers who ventured into discussions that upset one or two students, just because of the subject matter. With its vague language, some worried that parents and students who disagree with a teacher could use the new law to target educators, even when those educators are using primary sources and texts that are widely accepted.
“We’re about to tell our teachers and our school communities that we just don’t trust them, and in the process we shortchange millions of Texas students,” said State Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio).
Among other things, the bill prohibits teachers from introducing lessons that could cause a student to “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.”
On social media, discussions about the bill are already attracting comments from some parents who say they’ll be ready to report teachers they feel have committed infractions.
However, it’s not clear in the bill who exactly one would report a teacher or school to, or how these requirements would be enforced.
“You are putting teachers in the crosshairs,” West said.
Hughes said the bill protected teachers.
