CHARLOTTE, N.C. – North Carolina school boards in Republican-leaning counties are taking steps they say will prevent the teaching of critical race theory — and that some teachers say could lead to witch hunts.
Last week alone, school boards in Cabarrus, Johnston and Moore counties passed resolutions or policies they say are targeted at keeping critical race theory from being taught. The measures talk about things such as not teaching about social theories and not promoting that people should feel discomfort, guilt or anguish solely because of their race or sex.
“This is just to make it very clear to the public what we expect our teachers to do: to keep critical race theory stuff out of Moore County Schools,” Moore County school board member Ed Dennison said at last week’s board meeting.
But some educators say these new policies are so vague that they will have a chilling effect, with parents going after teachers for discussing anything in class they dislike.
“It is going to incite witch hunts for teachers,” April Lee, president of the Johnston County Association of Educators, said at last week’s Johnston County school board meeting. “So I need you to be prepared, and I need for you to be prepared for us to fight back.
“It is unfair and it’s terrible,” she said. “You have done a disservice to us.”
The local actions take place as Republicans at the state level are promoting legislation they say would prevent schools from “indoctrinating” students by promoting critical race theory concepts. Democratic lawmakers say the legislation would lead to history being whitewashed with teachers becoming fearful of what they can say.
Arguing whether critical race theory is being used
Critical race theory, according to the UNC-Chapel Hill history department, is a “scholarly framework that describes how race, class, gender, and sexuality organize American life.”
This view holds that systemic racism has been and continues to be a part of the nation’s history.
Critics, including the Republican members of the State Board of Education, charge that the state’s new K-12 social studies standards incorporate critical race theory. The state board’s Democratic majority say the new standards will help ensure that the perspectives of women, minorities and other historically marginalized groups will be represented.
Republican lawmakers have filed bills in state legislatures and in Congress targeting critical race theory.
North Carolina school districts have said they’re not teaching critical race theory and that people are conflating it with anything to do with diversity, equity and inclusion.
Parents have attended school board meetings around the state and nationally to urge districts to oppose critical race theory. Speakers have accused schools of trying to shame white students and trying to convert children into social justice warriors.
Last week’s New Hanover County school board became so heated that it was ended early, The Wilmington Star-News reported.
Johnston commissioners threaten to withhold money
The pressure was ratcheted up in Johnston County, where county commissioners said at a meeting in June they’d withhold $7.9 million until the school board passed a policy banning critical race theory.
Last week, the Johnston County school board amended the code of ethics policy to say that “instructional staff and other school system employees will not utilize methods or materials that would create division or promote animosity amongst students, staff and the community.”
The updated policy also says “staff shall not teach social theories outside of the North Carolina standards of any kind to students.”
“This policy is saying teach the Standard Course of Study,” said Johnston County school board member Lyn Andrews. “Don’t bring in everything else.”
But Rick Mercier, a former candidate for the Johnston County school board, said the policy would drive away some of the district’s best teachers and make it hard to attract good new talent.
“We were threatened with having our schools defunded unless we enacted a vague, unnecessary policy that will confuse, intimidate and demoralize our teachers,” Mercier told the board.
But Dale Lands, co-founder of the group Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government, said he’ll urge commissioners not to provide the money until the school board passes a stronger policy.
“Create a real policy against these racist teachings, not a minimal amendment with no teeth,” Lands told the school board. “We don’t need dictatorship training and morals and social theory taught to our kids.
“Stick to what the schools should be doing: reading, writing, math, science and history. That’s it. Teach American educational values period.”
Anonymously reporting teachers
Similar wording prohibiting teaching of “social theories” was included in a policy amendment passed in June by the Brunswick County school board. Brunswick County is about 150 miles south of Raleigh.
Under the revised Brunswick County school employee policy, the district “shall ensure that social theories of any kind (i.e. Holocaust Denial theory, 9/11 Theory, critical race theory) are not presented to students,” unless approved by the school board.
“We do hear all of you and we do agree with you,” Brunswick County school board vice chairman Steven Barger told the audience. “I’m going to sign onto the things that prevent biased teaching, and this is one of them.”
Brunswick County board members said the public can use the district’s anonymous reporting system for reporting threats to also report biased teaching.
Johnston County school leaders also urged the public to notify Superintendent Eric Bracy of any cases of critical race theory being taught.
“Dr. Bracy has said this numerous times in meetings that if this is being taught, he would love to have more information about it and where it’s being taught so that we can address it,” Todd Sutton, chairman of the Johnston County school board, said at last week’s meeting.
Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson created a task force through which people can anonymously report cases where they think teachers are indoctrinating their students. Robinson said they’d release a report next week.
Passing ‘nondiscrimination’ resolutions
Some school boards took wording from the state legislation to include in their own resolutions “to ensure dignity and nondiscrimination in schools.”
Both Cabarrus County, located 125 miles west of Raleigh, and Moore County, located 60 miles west of Raleigh, approved those resolutions last week.
“We have a public which is concerned about something called critical race theory,” Moore County school board member Bob Levy said at the meeting. “We debate a lot about what critical race theory is, and often times we don’t get a definition of it.
“This defines I believe what the public is concerned about. It is important that it get into our policy, not as a mallet, but as a way to guide our students and staff as to the philosophy and the policy of Moore County Schools.”
The Union County school board is considering a policy proposed last week by board member Gary Sides that also includes wording from the state legislation.
“As we’ve heard tonight and in previous meetings, we have not only a unique county, but in our state and our country, parents are concerned about bias creeping into their student’s curriculum.,” Sides said.
But the Rev. John Kirkpatrick IV, a Union County school board member, questioned including the statement from the bill that the U.S. wasn’t created for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.
“Now if we’re going to talk about history, I think that part needs to be taken out,” Kirkpatrick said. “Because if we really deal with history the right way, I’m not talking about what’s going on now but the creation of it, this is a false statement.”
____
