Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that aims to further ban critical race theory from Texas classrooms, even after educators and advocacy groups fought against the move for months.
The new law, signed Friday without fanfare, prohibits teaching certain concepts about race; develops a civics training program for teachers; and largely bars schools from giving credit to students for advocacy work. It also urges educators to teach only that slavery and racism are “deviations” from the founding principles of the United States.
It aims to strengthen Texas’ law passed in May that seeks to eliminate critical race theory from schools. The new law goes into effect Dec. 2.
The theory is an academic framework that probes the way policies and laws uphold systemic racism. Texas teachers and education leaders across the state have insisted repeatedly that critical race theory is not part of K-12 curriculums.
But Republican leaders have said Texas needs to ensure critical race theory rhetoric stays out of public schools.
“I think critical race theory and the belief in critical race theory is creating racial disharmony in the United States,” Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, said last month. Toth was among the lawmakers pushing to address the issue.
Advocates worry attempts to curb critical race theory will hinder schools’ efforts to address inequities in classrooms and teachers’ abilities to discuss current events and social issues.
During this summer’s debates on the bill, Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, said the bill is blatantly attempting to censor teachers and “whitewash our history.”
Many worry about the law’s vague language.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, said in August that teachers should have the latitude to be able to nurture and engage with students’ interests in what’s happening outside of school.
“Helping students make connections between what they read in books and what they see in the public square is something that we should celebrate in our educational system,” she said, “not something that we should discourage.”
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
