Texas Legislature is offering a misguided civics lesson

It’s ironic, tragic and painfully unsurprising that Texas Republicans have joined a national push to limit what teachers can include in social studies, history, government and civics courses.

In a session defined by an abundance of bad legislation, these bills merit attention. They represent a fear-fueled effort to ban “woke philosophies” such as critical race theory and silence discussions about what GOP lawmakers deem as controversial and divisive concepts. The upshot is to limit civic engagement in Texas schools. Why? And at what cost?

State Board of Education member Marisa B. Perez-Diaz, of San Antonio, has called the bills misguided and alarming. We go further: This is all about narrowing thought and dialogue, not opening minds.

House Bill 3979, authored by Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, and its recently passed companion, Senate Bill 2202, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, direct the State Board of Education to develop a social studies curriculum focused on the “foundations of the American experiment in self-government” and an overview of civic engagement and the nation’s founding documents.

That sounds almost innocuous, but these foundations also merit historical context and a connection to the present. Under this legislation, teachers wouldn’t be able to discuss the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the killing of George Floyd, voter suppression or any perceived controversial or divisive concepts — the very concepts that could help prevent repeating future occurrences or would promote true civic engagement.

Teachers would be barred from the teaching of critical race theory, or CRT, an academic discipline that views race as a social construct and examines how racism has shaped legal and social systems. It promotes a further understanding of the experiences of people of color. Why is this so dangerous? How does narrowing the educational experience prepare students for self-governance or deepen understanding?

Toth said it would not prohibit teaching about the country’s historical failures and “painful, sinful side of history,” such as slavery and Jim Crow laws. “But we don’t want teachers having that on the heads of kindergarten, first, third, fourth graders or even seniors in high school. They’re not at fault for what happened in prior generations, and that’s what CRT tries to do.”

No, that is not what CRT does. We’re sure some teachers would be happy to give some lawmakers a lesson in what CRT really is, but we suspect they already know.

Schools deserve the freedom to be honest about the darkest and most inspiring parts of America’s past, which includes understanding how activism and action shaped change.

The Texas Council for the Social Studies, a group of thousands of teachers, has described the legislation, in a statement, as “unworkable, unrealistic and unnecessarily punitive” and pointed out how it conflicts with existing social studies standards and would prohibit teachers from giving credit for civic engagement. Would our classrooms be policed or monitored?

This legislation would also limit training for teachers and bar funding for learning materials from organizations and businesses, even as the changes would require new curricula and textbooks.

It also conflicts with the progress the State Board of Education has made in enriching education through new elective courses such as Mexican American Studies, added in 2018, and an African American Studies course, added last year; and hopefully soon, an Asian American Pacific Islander course.

Education should be broadened, not limited. It should be unifying and sometimes uncomfortable in honesty. This effort is limiting and divisive. It would keep teachers from providing multiple perspectives in history, connect the truths of our past to our present and create space to share lived experiences.

Education should never be used as a partisan weapon. One day, when students vote — if they vote — it’s imperative they know our country’s deep history and how social justice and civic engagement play a role. The Legislature is providing quite an unfortunate lesson.