Preemption of Critical Race Theory & Other Curriculum Decisions
This is the first in a series of LSSC toolkits aimed at providing a one-stop-shop for all of the messaging, media, legal, and research resources associated with individual issue areas that are commonly preempted.
This document was last updated in April 2022.
Messaging 101
Schools are at the heart of our local communities, but over the last year we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in state efforts to control and even censor what can be discussed in classrooms.
This includes legislation to censor discussion of LGBTQ people and climate change; and bans on discussions of the role discrimination has played in our history.
Efforts to ban classes that explore the ways in which a history of inequality and racism in the U.S. continue to affect American institutions and society today set a dangerous precedent for state interference in local classrooms.
Some states are threatening to punish school districts and individual teachers by cutting funding or withholding teacher salary increases if they don’t like what educators are teaching.
State laws that determine what can and cannot be taught in local classrooms have harmful and lasting effects.
State lawmakers banning equity and science-based curricula are doing more than usurping local control of schools – they are shaping the values, policy and political priorities and potential for civic engagement of the next generation.
Democracies cannot function without rigorous, questioning, unfettered, and fearless teaching in our schools.
Media Examples
Anti-critical race theory bill signed into law by Mississippi governor | ABC News, 3/15/2022
Tennessee and Florida aren't the only states where the history of racism is under siege | CNN 3/8/2022
At the Oklahoma Legislature, a new flood of bills on school curriculum | The Frontier 3/2/2022
Lawmaker wants to ban critical race theory in Missouri schools | FOX 2 Now, 12/2/2021
Critical race theory in the classroom: Understanding the debate | ABC News, 5/19/2021
State Legislators Who Think They’re Defending Free Speech Are Actually Hurting It | RealClearEducation, 5/14/21
How Trump ignited the fight over critical race theory in schools | NBC News, 5/10/21
As schools expand racial equity work, conservatives see a new threat in critical race theory | Washington Post, 5/3/2021
Legal Resources
A Lesson on Critical Race Theory | American Bar Association, 1/12/21
State Preemption Bills: Passed and Pending – A Mid-Session Snapshot | Local Solutions Support Center, 4/26/21
Additional Resources
When Politics Enters the Classroom: Teaching Climate Change in Schools | New York State School Boards Association, August 2017
Trump’s Threat to Pull Funding From Schools Over How They Teach Slavery Is Part of a Long History of Politicizing American History Class | TIME, 9/17/20