Critical race theory to be kept out of classrooms
Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn is committed to enforcing a new state law restricting how schools teach students about racism, the state schools chief said in a recent letter to an influential lawmaker.
Schwinn also stressed that local school districts decide what curriculum, textbooks and other materials are used in classrooms.
Schwinn’s letter to Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, comes amid a national debate over critical race theory, which examines the likelihood racism is not just an individual trait but also the underpinning of many American institutions.
The national debate has spurred several states, including Tennessee, to ban public schools from teaching certain concepts related to that theory. In Tennessee, it’s launched a statewide discussion over the Wit & Wisdom curriculum used by more than 30 districts.
Critics argue the curriculum is not age-appropriate and promotes concepts based on critical race theory. Johnson weighed in on the argument last week, a day before a parent group filed an official complaint under the new law.
“Recent legislation tasked TDOE [the
Tennessee Department of Education] with building a framework to prevent propaganda like critical race theory from being taught in Tennessee classrooms. The department is in the process of building this framework,” Schwinn said in the June 30 letter. “We acknowledge the challenges that exist in balancing the state’s current process for curricula approval but are committed to enforcing the CRT law as the legislature designed it.”
In the letter, Schwinn addresses the state’s curriculum approval process and how districts received permission to use Wit & Wisdom — which some parents claim “failed” to meet state standards.
The Tennessee Textbook Commission reviews and selects core instructional materials which are then approved by the State Board of Education.
When adopting a new curriculum, districts are allowed to apply for a waiver from the Tennessee Department of Education to use materials that are not on the state-approved list.
The state board only assesses “whether materials meet state academic standards and does not assess matters like bias or sensitivity,” Schwinn wrote in her letter.
Wit & Wisdom was initially approved in the most recent English language arts adoption process for grades 3-8. The curriculum was not approved for grades K-2 because it lacked a phonics component.
Districts were granted a waiver to use the curriculum “so long as the district propose[d] a supplement to the curriculum that fully covers Tennessee state standards,” Schwinn said. “A common practice.”
Earlier this year, a spokesperson for the State Board of Education said Tennessee’s academic standards for social studies do not contain any mention of “critical race theory,” “systemic racism,” or “institutional racism.”
For the most part, critical race theory is not taught in K-12 schools. The concept, which began as an academic movement, has been around for decades and is mainly taught in law schools or universities.
But Schwinn did acknowledge parents’ right to question the process and the curriculum.
“Parents have every right to question the reasoning or process behind the content being taught in Tennessee classrooms. Materials come into the classroom through a variety of channels, but districts ultimately make selections,” she said. “While the department evaluates materials for academic standards, we believe parents provide important oversight into how sensitive or controversial subjects are approached.”
Johnson said he is confident Schwinn and her staff will take the curriculum concerns very seriously and will enforce the law.
Though he values the roles that both local school boards and the state play, he does hope the state will take a closer look at Wit & Wisdom, he told the Tennessean in an interview Thursday.
“Given the controversy surrounding Wit & Wisdom — and I have stated and I will repeat that I find elements of Wit & Wisdom problematic — I think there is a role for the state to play in terms of the department reevaluating that curriculum in terms of age-appropriateness and content,” he said.
In an 11-page grievance filed by Moms for Liberty’s
Williamson County chapter, the group argues four specific anchor texts, including the book “Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story,” by Ruby Bridges, “reveal both explicit and implicit anti-American, antiwhite and anti-Mexican teaching.”
“Additionally, it implies to second-grade children that people of color continue to be oppressed by an oppressive ‘angry, vicious, scary, mean, loud, violent, [rude], and [hateful]’ white population’ and teaches that the racial injustice of the 1960s exists today,” the grievance states.
Robin Steenman, chair of the group, told The Tennessean last week she also hopes the department revokes the waiver and Wit & Wisdom is removed from Tennessee classrooms.
Johnson also hinted that when the legislature reconvenes in January, lawmakers might take “another look at the legislation we passed to see if we need further legislation relative to something like Wit & Wisdom or that type of curriculum.”
“The state is there to put guardrails in place … that’s what we did with the critical race theory legislation,” he said. “But I do believe that local districts should have flexibility in selecting curriculum that is appropriate for their communities.”
Schwinn has not indicated any plans by the department to revoke the waiver. The department is expected to issue guidance to help school districts comply with the new state law by Aug. 1.
A spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based Great Minds, which produces the Wit & Wisdom curriculum, said the company is aware of Tennessee’s new law and said the materials it produces are in compliance.