Tennessee joined several other states on Monday in banning the teachings of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools throughout the state.
The legislation, a section of a larger education bill, prohibits the teaching that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously” according to the bill.
“We need to make sure that our kids recognize that this country is moving toward a more perfect union, that we should teach the exceptionalism of our nation and how people can live together and work together to make a greater nation, and to not teach things that inherently divide or pit either Americans against Americans or people groups against people groups,” Lee told a group of reporters after signing the piece of legislation.
After the bill goes into effect, the consequences of ignoring the new law have severe potential repercussions. If a school is found to have violated the law, the state commission of education can decide that state funds should be withheld.
Other Tennessee lawmakers have expressed their approval for the bill. Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson told The Tennessee Star, “I’m very happy that we have passed a strong bill to prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in Tennessee public schools.”
The CRT legislation passed the Tennessee state legislature earlier this month with an overwhelming majority.
Several Republican-led states have made the move to ban Critical Race Theory teachings in public education. As reported by The Florida Capital Star, a school system in Florida, which was one of the first states to enact such a ban, recently fired a teacher for failing to comply with the regulation.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
OK, call me dense but when I search for SB 623, it is about a quarter of a page and has nothing to do with CRT. True, I’m not familiar with navigating the General Assembly’s website for legislation but any help you can provide would be appreciated. I’m most curious about consequences for teachers since some, as you know, have said they will break the law and litigation will almost immediately result. I’m delighted the Governor and legislature have done this but I’d like to read the actual language of the legislation. Thank you!
Now monitor and enforce