20 May 2022 3:42 am
Experts tell House panel that freedom of speech is under attack in public schools - Raw Story
Students and teachers told U.S. House members during a Thursday hearing that their right to talk about race and LGBTQ+ issues in public schools is being silenced due to an onslaught of new state laws as well as pressure on school boards from right-wing advocates.
“To be crystal clear, this is about disrupting and destroying public education,” James Whitfield, a former principal in Texas and one of the witnesses, told lawmakers.
Mellen School District votes to prohibit race from being discussed during American history lessons – Ballotpedia News
The Mellon School Board in Wisconsin voted on April 20, 2022, to adopt a new policy to prohibit race from being discussed during American history lessons. This decision follows a vote in March that barred subjects such as critical race theory, religion, sexual orientation, privilege, empathy, and political orientation from being taught in classrooms.
According to the survey conducted by Mellen School District, 72% of responders opposed teaching sexual orientation; 73% opposed teaching gender identity; 66% opposed teaching critical race theory, and 68% opposed teaching white privilege. Conversely, 64% of responders support teaching empathy, 58% supported teaching inclusion, and 56% support teaching anti-racism.
The Republican education culture war had a lot of losses on Tuesday
Right-wing attempts to take over school boards in Durham, North Carolina, and in several New York counties largely failed in elections Tuesday. The losses come amid Republican efforts to turn the existence of public education itself into a culture war using racism, LGBTQ kids, and pandemic safety measures as their weapons—and as Democrats fail to push back aggressively to protect the values under attack or to capitalize on what could be a winning issue.
Students and teachers told U.S. House members during a Thursday hearing that their right to talk about race and LGBTQ+ issues in public schools is being silenced due to an onslaught of new state laws as well as pressure on school boards from right-wing advocates.
“To be crystal clear, this is about disrupting and destroying public education,” James Whitfield, a former principal in Texas and one of the witnesses, told lawmakers.
Mellen School District votes to prohibit race from being discussed during American history lessons – Ballotpedia News
The Mellon School Board in Wisconsin voted on April 20, 2022, to adopt a new policy to prohibit race from being discussed during American history lessons. This decision follows a vote in March that barred subjects such as critical race theory, religion, sexual orientation, privilege, empathy, and political orientation from being taught in classrooms.
According to the survey conducted by Mellen School District, 72% of responders opposed teaching sexual orientation; 73% opposed teaching gender identity; 66% opposed teaching critical race theory, and 68% opposed teaching white privilege. Conversely, 64% of responders support teaching empathy, 58% supported teaching inclusion, and 56% support teaching anti-racism.
The Republican education culture war had a lot of losses on Tuesday
Right-wing attempts to take over school boards in Durham, North Carolina, and in several New York counties largely failed in elections Tuesday. The losses come amid Republican efforts to turn the existence of public education itself into a culture war using racism, LGBTQ kids, and pandemic safety measures as their weapons—and as Democrats fail to push back aggressively to protect the values under attack or to capitalize on what could be a winning issue.