Less than a month after Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill that severely curtails classroom discussions on race, Regan Killackey, an English teacher at Edmond Memorial High School noticed that his district鈥檚 stated efforts to better serve its students of color started to morph.
Administrators stopped mandating a diversity training program for teachers. Teachers no longer required students to read To Kill a Mockingbird and A Raisin in the Sun, two classic pieces of literature about acts of racism. And administrators told teachers to avoid using words in the classroom like 鈥渄iversity鈥� and 鈥渨hite privilege,鈥� Killackey alleges in a recent lawsuit filed by the ACLU.
It was just a year ago, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, that the district鈥檚 superintendent doubled down on fighting all the ways racism permeates the school鈥檚 hallways and denies a litany of opportunities for students of color who make up more than 40 percent of its student body. But now, Killackey said, with the state threatening to pull the licenses of educators who violate the new law and the accreditation of their districts, all those efforts seemed to be in peril.
鈥淎s a teacher, especially with the threat of losing your teacher license, what are you going to do? You鈥檙e not going to teach about race,鈥� said Killackey. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to go ahead and keep your job.鈥�
Thirteen states now have passed into law similarly but loosely worded bills that their authors say are intended to prevent teachers from indoctrinating students with political ideas and make white students feel 鈥渁nguish鈥� or 鈥済uilt鈥� for racist actions by previous generations. More than eight states are set to consider similar bills early next year.
But while the Oklahoma law鈥檚 intentions is to preserve the feelings of white children, teachers who joined the ACLU lawsuit against Oklahoma, one of the first states to pass such a bill, say that state鈥檚 law is silently doing irreversible academic harm to Asian, Black, Latino, and Native American students, who today make up the majority of America鈥檚 student body.
Because America鈥檚 student body is rapidly diversifying, yet its teaching force has remained overwhelmingly white, administrators in recent years, at the demands of parents, have put in place initiatives to include voices of color in curriculum, rid teachers of racial biases, and more directly address individual and systemic acts of racism when they see it.
Oklahoma鈥檚 law explicitly bans mandated diversity training for teachers. It鈥檚 vague when it comes to what sort of discussions are and are not allowed in the classroom. But teachers say they鈥檙e so fearful of the law鈥檚 consequences鈥攅specially the loss of their licenses鈥� that they鈥檙e censoring themselves in the classroom on all things dealing with race. And, they say, administrators, afraid of having to respond to complaints, have rid their district of almost every initiative that directly addresses racial inequality.
鈥淎s written, the prohibitions are either solutions searching for a problem or are written in such a vague and confusing way that teachers have no idea what content or what conduct may or may not be covered,鈥� said Megan Lambert, the legal director of Oklahoma鈥檚 ACLU chapter.
The organization argues in its lawsuit that the law is sweeping, arbitrary and unconstitutional, effectively violating teachers鈥� First Amendment rights and weakening students鈥� knowledge of the state鈥檚 racist history.
鈥淸We] feel that they鈥檙e just trying to cover up what was actually done to our ancestors,鈥� said Mary Topaum, the director of Oklahoma鈥檚 American Indian Movement chapter, Indian Territory, which signed onto the lawsuit. Because of the dearth of classroom discussions on race, culture and history, Native American students face harassment and alienation, the organization alleges. 鈥淓very time we try to bring the correct history up because it鈥檚 still affecting us today with the generational trauma, we鈥檙e told to get over it.鈥�
Teachers in a majority Black district are told to stick to the standards
Even in majority Black districts, where administrators and teachers have long been open and honest about identity and how racism interacts with their daily lives, teachers are second-guessing their Black history lessons and how they respond when students bring up in class racist acts in the news, such as police brutality disproportionately targeted at Black men.
鈥淏anning these conversations ... means maintaining an educational environment that is unwelcome to our students of color,鈥� said Anthony Douglas, the president of NAACP鈥檚 Oklahoma chapter, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
In Millwood, Okla., where more than 95 percent of students are Black and 80 percent of teachers are Black, Millwood High School English teacher, Anthony Crawford, another plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit, described talking about race this year as 鈥渟cary.鈥�
When the law was first passed, Crawford asked his superintendent for a list detailing everything he could not say because of the law.
The district then offered a training where administrators dissected for teachers the state鈥檚 standards to ensure everything teachers are discussing adheres to the new law. (Advocates of color have long complained that Oklahoma鈥檚 history standards omit stories about systemic and individual acts of racism.) And administrators directed Crawford to document everything he was discussing in case anyone complains.
鈥淭o me this is... a checkmate on Black and brown students here in this nation,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause the more they try to restrict certain truths, certain lessons, they鈥檙e literally indoctrinating us to believe that America was one way, when that is not the actual reality.鈥�
鈥楾he garbage of CRT ... is teaching our children to be racist鈥�
In the Edmond district, spokeswoman Susan Parks-Schlepp said the district 鈥渟huffled鈥� teachers鈥� book materials after the law was passed and made the contents of a 鈥渄iversity module鈥� of its annual training 鈥渁vailable for self-enrollment.鈥� She also said the district clarified in updated guidance that teachers could use terms such as 鈥渄iversity鈥� if they tied the word鈥檚 use to state standards.
Over this past summer, Edmond鈥檚 administrators attempted to explain to teachers what was and was not allowed to be taught under the law, according to documents provided to 91制片厂视频 Week by ACLU.
鈥淣othing in this law talks about critical race theory,鈥� administrators said in a document distributed to teachers at the beginning of this school year. 鈥淭his law does not prohibit conversations about race, ethnicity, diversity, or gender. You still have all the tools you had before, and as always, do not interject your opinion.鈥�
But in recent months, school board meetings have been bombarded by angry parents alleging that board members through their policies are promoting 鈥渓iberal agendas鈥� and indoctrinating students with their 鈥淢arxist lens.鈥�
A couple of parents also claimed that the district鈥檚 social-emotional learning curriculum was just a rebranded name for critical race theory.
鈥淭he garbage of CRT鈥攐r SEL as you鈥檇 like to call it鈥攊s teaching our children to be racist,鈥� a parent said during public comments at the November board meeting. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e teaching them to hate our country.鈥�
Superintendent Angela Grunewald soon after wrote a letter posted on the district鈥檚 website in response to the parents鈥� accusations.
鈥淚nclusion is not CRT,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚t is important to the leadership at Edmond Public Schools that every student has a place in our schools.鈥�
Meanwhile, Killackey, the Edmond Memorial High School English teacher, said he鈥檚 had to upend the way he handles classroom discussions on race.
鈥淚t upsets me,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause ... I want to talk about these things openly and honestly with all of my students, and they need to be talked about openly and honestly...鈥�.
鈥淥ur district was doing everything the right way,鈥� he said about last year鈥檚 initiatives. 鈥淚 would hope that they would have just had an honest conversations about [the law] and said we trust your professionalism, we trust you as a teacher and we trust you鈥檒l do the right thing.鈥�
