PPS board takes stand on legislation

Opposes curtailing lessons on race, gender

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board unanimously approved a resolution taking a stance against state legislation that the board says is harmful toward LGBTQ students and students of color.

The resolution, introduced by board member Devon Taliaferro, opposes four bills that “would threaten the ability of the school district of Pittsburgh to build a culture of belonging that embraces differences, reflects our local community and allows all students and educators to be their authentic selves.” The board’s resolution says the state bills “seek to place fear in teachers” and are harmful to LGBTQ individuals and people of color.

Before the board’s vote Tuesday, Ms. Taliaferro said she believes most people want every child to have access to a “high quality, age-appropriate education.”

“[Students] deserve to accurately learn about our history. Read books that represent their heritage or culture and discover who they are and how they identify,” she said. “Most importantly, they deserve leaders who will stand up for their rights and make decisions on their behalf

But she said politicians should not use children for “cultural wars and political games.”

“Sadly the politicians in Pennsylvania have been pushing legislation meant to ban books, erase LGBTQIA-plus students and censor classroom curriculum to fit their own political views,” she said.

One of the state proposals, House Bill 1532, is known as the Teaching Racial and Universal Equality ( TRUE) Act, and is “aimed at curtailing” educators from teaching about “critical race theory.” The school board’s resolution says that this bill “prohibits our educators from accurately teaching history, improperly bans anti-bias training, and would make culturally relevant teaching nearly impossible.”

The resolution also says that House bills 1277 and 1278 — known as the“Parental Control of Sexually Explicit Content” and “Empowering Families in Education Act” bills — “compromise thorough, fact-based health education” and “further devalues our students and families of color and LGBTQ+ students and families.”

House Bill 2813, known as “Parental Rights in Education,” prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through fifth grade. The school board’s resolution says the bill intends to “censor, marginalize, exclude, and discriminate against LGBTQ+ students and families.”

Several other board members also spoke against the state legislation. Director Bill Gallagher called the resolution “absolutely necessary.”

“That is just absolutely shameful that in the year 2022 that we are looking at such hatred against children and just people in general,” Director Sylvia Wilson said. “We should be so much further along than this.”

Ms. Taliaferro said she hoped other districts would follow Pittsburgh in opposing the state legislation. The board’s vote came a day after several parents, teachers and community members spoke in support of the board’s proposal.

The bills, all introduced by Republicans, are currently in the state House and Senate education committees. Democrat Gov.elect Josh Shapiro has veto power if the bills land on his desk. Gov. Tom Wolf had promised to veto at least two of the proposals if they had reached him.

The proposal of the bills comes amid a wave of antiLGBTQ legislation filed this year in states across the country.

NBC News reported in March that the annual number of anti- LGBTQ bills filed rose from 41 in 2018 to 238 in less than three months of 2022. In 2021, 191 anti-LGBTQ bills were filed, according to NBC News.