Florida isn’t the only state facing scrutiny for its governor-led changes to its educational system.
Tennessee also restricted how racism, privilege and oppression could be taught in 2021 to restrict classroom lessons that were deemed divisive. Some of the controversial subjects include slavery, the Holocaust, 9/11 and gender studies among others.
According to the law SB 0623, it is required that teachers teach an “impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history” and "impartial instruction on the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, or geographic region."
This has led to the Tennessee Education Association and public school educators filing a lawsuit against the state’s education department. The lawsuit read that the ban deprives Tennessee’s public-school students of any concept of civic education in a democratic system. Critics of the policies say the policy hurts teacher’s ability to teach certain subjects.
SB 0623 also prohibits the teaching that “a meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist, or designed by a particular race or sex to oppress members of another race or sex.”
Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and other states have conservative leaning education curriculums who many critics feel misinforms students on subjects including race, slavery, LGBTQ+ subjects and more. Meanwhile, supporters of the measures feel as if honest discussions of those topics are divisive and can cause guilt or shame in children based on their race.
Source: ABC News
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