Another GOP solution in search of a problem:
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a 14-state coalition in a brief asking an appeals court to uphold a state law in Arkansas that is intended to prevent “indoctrination” in schools.
“As a mom, I know how important it is that we create a healthy culture for our kids to learn and grow,” Bird said in a statement on Wednesday. “And most schools and teachers do an amazing job at that. But when education turns into indoctrination, parents have a right to push back.”
The Arkansas law was passed in 2023 and codifies a previous executive order from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It targets teaching “that would indoctrinate students with ideologies … that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law.” The statute points to critical race theory — an academic concept that argues racism is embedded in legal principles and policies — as an example of such an ideology.
The law, as written, does not ban discussion of the described concepts, but rather prohibits schools from compelling students to affirm them as true.
But teachers and students who sued the state argued the law was being interpreted to ban any discussion of critical race theory. For example, the state’s secretary of education removed the AP designation from the AP African-American Studies course after the law went into effect.
A district court in May partially granted a request from a group of teachers and students to temporarily block enforcement of a portion of the law, but only for the specific parties that sued. In his ruling, Judge Lee Rudofsky cited a 1982 Supreme Court case that found governments cannot remove information from a classroom without a “legitimate pedagogical interest.”
Bird and the other Republican attorneys general argue in the brief that court cases since then have invalidated that precedent. The brief points to more recent decisions that say the government has a right to promote a defined message and value system, as well as a right to condemn certain values.
The brief is joined by attorneys general in Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
www.thegazette.com
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a 14-state coalition in a brief asking an appeals court to uphold a state law in Arkansas that is intended to prevent “indoctrination” in schools.
“As a mom, I know how important it is that we create a healthy culture for our kids to learn and grow,” Bird said in a statement on Wednesday. “And most schools and teachers do an amazing job at that. But when education turns into indoctrination, parents have a right to push back.”
The Arkansas law was passed in 2023 and codifies a previous executive order from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It targets teaching “that would indoctrinate students with ideologies … that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law.” The statute points to critical race theory — an academic concept that argues racism is embedded in legal principles and policies — as an example of such an ideology.
The law, as written, does not ban discussion of the described concepts, but rather prohibits schools from compelling students to affirm them as true.
But teachers and students who sued the state argued the law was being interpreted to ban any discussion of critical race theory. For example, the state’s secretary of education removed the AP designation from the AP African-American Studies course after the law went into effect.
A district court in May partially granted a request from a group of teachers and students to temporarily block enforcement of a portion of the law, but only for the specific parties that sued. In his ruling, Judge Lee Rudofsky cited a 1982 Supreme Court case that found governments cannot remove information from a classroom without a “legitimate pedagogical interest.”
Bird and the other Republican attorneys general argue in the brief that court cases since then have invalidated that precedent. The brief points to more recent decisions that say the government has a right to promote a defined message and value system, as well as a right to condemn certain values.
The brief is joined by attorneys general in Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
Capitol Notebook: Iowa AG leads brief to uphold law against ‘indoctrination’ in schools
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a 14-state coalition in a brief asking an appeals court to uphold a state …
www.thegazette.com
