There are two Republican-backed bills that state lawmakers are considering targeting how racism, history and public policy are taught in Ohio schools. These bills come as Republican candidates have been calling for a ban on what they call “critical race theory” in the classroom, and urging supporters to push for that with school board members and legislators. But opponents are pushing back at these bills as vague, simplistic and dangerous.
One of the two bills would prohibit K-12 schools, colleges and universities and state and local governments from teaching what it calls “divisive concepts” on race, color, nationality, religion or sex. Co-sponsoring Rep. Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) said it corrects a curriculum in Ohio’s schools that he calls growing and concerning.
“This curriculum does not challenge students to think critically, or inspire them to embrace their individualism in our society. Rather, it attempts to imbue them with the notion that they are either oppressed or the oppressor,” said Holmes.
The other similar bill is focused only on K-12 schools, sponsored by Rep. Don Jones (R-Freeport), who was a high school agriculture teacher for 23 years. He told a House committee in June it would ensure only facts are shared from both sides of issues, and that it would stop what he calls the Marxist ideology in what’s known as divisive concepts or critical race theory.
“The goal of that indoctrination is to alter how children view the United States. The goal is to train children to believe that the United States is fundamentally racist,” said Jones.
It’s been repeatedly noted that critical race theory, which examines structural racial inequality, is taught in graduate and law schools and not in K-12 schools in Ohio. Sponsors and supporters of these bills have been asked where critical race theory or divisive concepts are being taught. Some supporters of the bills have said they’ve had trouble getting access to local school curriculum, but there haven’t been any districts or schools identified in connection with the bills. So there are legitimate questions about why a ban on critical race theory is needed. But it’s become a talking point for Republicans, led by former president Trump, who at a Lorain County rally in June referred to an order he signed banning diversity training for federal workers and contractors that was rescinded by the Biden administration.
“We need a Republican Congress to ban critical race theory. You know, I had it banned through executive order.”
But Scott DiMauro, who heads the Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, said the broader bill would prohibit requiring discussions about current events or widely debated public policy, and would deny students graduation credit for classes that include a prohibited concept – while it also says divisive concepts must be taught “objectively and without endorsement”.
“These distinctions are open to interpretations and are likely to become frighteningly incomprehensible when taking into account the extreme and draconian penalties the bill will bestow upon students, schools and educators for perceived violations of ‘divisive concept’ prohibitions.”
DiMauro spoke at a House hearing September 22, which brought written testimony from 225 opponents. Those who spoke included Tim Johnson from the Ohio Poverty Law Center, Ohio State University associate professor Richard Fletcher and Columbus attorney Rachel Belenker.
“Ohio should not put teachers in a position where they would need a lawyer with them in the classroom just so they know what they can and cannot teach, nor should it make it harder for state agencies and political subdivisions to address racial disparities.”
“I oppose this bill because it represents a dangerously reductive and divisive fantasy of America that is opposed to the complex and diverse reality that we live in today.”
“Issues such as the Holocaust, civil rights struggles and Jim Crow laws are not opinion-based and should not be taught in a ‘two-sides-to-each-story’ manner.”
And Brandi Baker of Athens said she was moved to form a parents’ group after her daughter’s classmate told her she wasn’t allowed to have Black friends – and Baker was told by school officials that ‘that’s just the way some people around here feel’.
“That’s a problem. That means that the education system is broken and that your teachers and administrators need training,” Baker said as applause broke out.
Right wing evangelical groups have joined Republican elected officials and candidates, in the defense of these bills, and often invoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Kathy Johnson did that at a committee hearing in June. She’s with the evangelical Christian group Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, which the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to as an anti-Muslim organization.
“Rev. Dr. King believed that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were promissory note to all Americans.”
However, there’s more from that line from King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, which continues: “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.”
Jones’ bill has 27 co-sponsors. The other broader bill, which is sponsored by Reps. Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland) and Sarah Arthur Fowler (R-Ashtabula), has 34 co-sponsors – more than a third of the Ohio House. All are Republicans.