On a 31 to 29 party line vote, the State House passed The Unbiased Teaching Act, also known as SB1532, following a derisive debate during Wednesday’s floor session.
An amendment introduced this week by Rep. Michelle Udall (R-LD25) to a school operations bill bars racist, sexist, and one-sided politicized instruction in Arizona schools, including concepts related to Critical Race Theory. It also allows for civil litigation against teachers, administrators, and other school employees who violate the Act.
Under SB1532, a school district, charter school, or state agency is prohibited from requiring a teacher, employee, or visitor to discuss controversial issues of public policy or social affairs unless the subject is essential to course learning objectives. If a teacher presents a controversial issue, it must be conducted with “diverse and contending perspectives” without deference to any one perspective.
“Political advocacy, propaganda, and biased, one-sided viewpoints taught as fact have no place in a classroom,” Udall said after the vote. “If dealing with a divisive controversial topic, educators should present the subjects in a responsible, balanced way that encourages students to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions.”
SB1532 as amended was transmitted Wednesday to the Senate for a vote. The Republican Senate Caucus only holds a 16 to 14 majority, so getting the bill to Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk will require full Republican support unless some Democrats unexpectedly cross the aisle.
Passage in the Senate, however, is not a sure bet due to statements by Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-LD16) that she will not vote for any further legislation this session until the Senate’s ongoing audit of the Maricopa County 2020 general election is finished.
The Unbiased Teaching Act allows the Arizona Attorney General or the appropriate county attorney to initiate legal action in superior court for an alleged violation of the controversial issues prohibition. If further prohibits requiring a teacher, administrator, or other school employee to engage in training, orientation, or therapy that presents any form of blame or judgement on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex.
Examples of prohibited “blame or judgement” concepts are those which teach one race, ethnicity, or sex is inherently morally or intellectually superior to another; that one person, by virtue of his or her race, ethnicity or sex, is consciously or unconsciously inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive; that an individual should be invidiously discriminated against or receive adverse treatment based solely or partly on his or her race, ethnicity, or sex; or that a person’s moral character is determined by his or her race, ethnicity, or sex.
A judge could impose a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 against a person who knowingly violates the Act or aids in a violation. The bill also permits the Attorney General or a county attorney to bring legal action against any school district or charter schoolteacher, administrator, or other employee, as well as state employee who uses public funds to violate the prohibitions.
Another provision ensures students cannot be required to affiliate with or engage in service learning that involves the student participating in lobbying for legislation at the local, state, or federal level or in social or public policy advocacy.
Also on Wednesday, a party line vote led to House passage of SB1074, which started out as a routine public entity auditing bill before being amended by Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-LD12) with language similar to Udall’s SB1532 amendment.
SB1074 as amended bans the state, state agencies, and political subdivisions such as counties, cities and towns, and community colleges from requiring employees to engage in the same type of training, orientation, or therapy prohibited in SB1532 if it involves presents any form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex.
Training related to sexual harassment is specifically excluded from the mandates in SB1074.
Every so often, the answers to problems of the day are best revealed through questions. Jeopardy gets it right.
So, today’s answer is, “These are the True Racists,” and the questions are as follows:
Are racists those who want to keep minorities ignorant, allowing no school choice and locking them into the public school system? Or, is it those who want to give every child the choice of where to receive an education?
Is it those who say and care nothing about the numbers of Black men killed by other Black men in inner cities? Or, is it those who understand all Black lives matter, not merely those killed by police?
Is it those who promote abortion clinics in the inner city? Or those who seek to protect the sanctity of life?
Is it those whose policies have helped destroy families of minorities and refuse to learn from experience? Or, is it those who grasp the failure of these policies and want to change them to preserve the family structure?
Is it those who teach victimhood and, “No, you can’t without government’s help?” Or, might it be those who acknowledge the bright potential and future of all and those who support and encourage all in realizing their potential?
Is it those who create dependency and no path out from poverty? Or, is it those who want what is best for each individual and strive to adopt and implement policies that would do just that?
Is it those who tell you that you were never a true American, entitled to the full benefits of citizenship, with no hope of attaining the American dream? Or, is it those who know you are an American with all the rights and privileges that entails, and the ability to pursue your own happiness?
Is it those who teach that any struggle you face is derived from racism and flaws in the system? Or, is it those who cheer for your success and who recognize that each individual has unique challenges to overcome?
Is it those who have such low expectations that they don’t think you can obtain an identification card? Or, it is those who see an equal and treat you as such?
Is it those who see color first, to the exclusion of attributes? Or is it those carrying-out Martin Luther King’s vision of judging by character alone?
Is it those who wish to re-segregate? Or, those who strive for integration?
Is it those who intentionally use race to divide because of their own nefarious ends? Or, is it those who want to heal and continue what progress we’ve achieved?
Is it those who don’t want you to know the real statistics of police shootings, as it would destroy a narrative? Or, it is those seek to tell the truth of local policing?
Is it those encouraging entitlement and rage as a way of life? Or, would it be those who strive to instill self-worth and dignity?
Is it those teaching false history to intentionally manipulate perspectives? Or, it is those teaching history, its shames included, who understand America’s progress in living-up to its creed of “all men are created equal?”
Is it those who teach Critical Race Theory whose teachings hold that all whites are identified as oppressors? Or, is it those who teach that all are to be judged as individuals and are mindful that many of all colors have fought for racial equality?
Is it those that teach “us-versus-them?” Or, those who teach of a common, “we?”
Is it those seeking to divide along racial lines? Or those aiming to unite as Americans sharing similar visions?
The Jeopardy paradigm takes the mask off and reveals the answers.
Those most often pointing the finger, accusing others as being racists, protest too much.
It is time that the truth be known.
Yes, it seems that systemic racism IS flourishing in America, but it is not coming from our traditional core ideals, founding documents or American patriots. It is coming from those who perpetuate bogus lessons of history and false, self-serving proscriptions.
All must look at facts and stop accusing those bereft-of-prejudice and, instead, turn the focus to the real racist policies and beliefs. “By their fruits ye shall know them”. For those who have eyes to see it is not difficult to watch and see which “seed” produces the good fruit, the universal love among all men.
Only when we identify and rip-out the root of this division (false narratives and racist policies that equate to systemic racism) will there be a chance of healing. As long as race baiters and perpetual “pot-stirrers” are allowed to maintain their undeserved microphones, truth will be suppressed, and any victory will be fleeting.
Jeff Utsch of Tucson, AZ, is an instructor at the Leadership and Freedom Center in Gettysburg PA and can be heard on iHeart Radio’s Podcast, Constitutional Conversations, with KFYI 550-AM host James T Harris, of The Conservative Circus. Jeff@jeffutsch.com
They’re at it again. You would think that public school districts would learn their lesson at some point. After all, many of them turned their backs on students and parents in the wake of COVID-19. And now, those school districts are paying the price.
But apparently, they’re too committed to their agenda.
Some school districts are ignoring the science and keeping their beloved mask mandates. Some would rather keep parents in the dark about classroom curriculum. While others are trying to adopt Marxist Critical Race Theory programs in their schools.
The latest culprit is Litchfield Elementary School District, where the school board recently published an “equity statement” along with a set of “equity goals.” The goals were presented at the school board meeting in March and crafted by, you guessed it, a “district diversity committee.”
If you’re unfamiliar with Critical Race Theory, it’s a movement that combines Marxist theories of class conflict within the lens of race. And it teaches that racism is present in every interaction. Races that have been “minoritized” are considered oppressed while those who are “racially privileged” are called “exploiters.” Proponents of the movement are good at disguising it. As Christopher Rufo from the Manhattan Institute points out, you’ll often find Critical Race Theory is present when you hear terms like “social justice,” “diversity,” “inclusion,” and “equity.”
2021 marks the seventh year of The Equity Event, an annual speaker series for teachers hosted by the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA). This event serves as a touchstone for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives enshrined in school policies statewide.
ASBA characterizes itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that offers training and leadership assistance to public school governing boards.
According to The Equity Event save the date published by ASBA, this year’s Equity Event will have a special focus on culture, race, and ethnicity.
Following the clarifying statement of this year’s focus, the ASBA site insinuated in the following paragraph that the gaps in opportunities and outcomes across school districts might have to do with equity concerning culture, race, and ethnicity.
“Every school district has gaps in opportunity and outcomes,” wrote ASBA. “What are the barriers preventing your district from closing them so that every student can reach their full potential? How can you and your board overcome them?”
The event description continued on to say that past series have uncovered the realities that adversely impact students, such as family income, physical ability, or immigration status. ASBA then stated that culture, race, and ethnicity are related to each of these realities.
Then, ASBA says that race should be focused on more intensely. The association encouraged attendees to become aware of barriers or biases that they aren’t aware existed in themselves.
ASBA has three keynote speakers lined up this year. Calvin Terrell, known for his Ted Talk that advances a kind of secular humanism; Dr. Jennifer Harvey, gay reverend and proponent of antiracism and critical race theory; and Bill de la Cruz, an all-around advocate for racial awareness and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
A pre-conference to The Equity Event on April 21 will include scheduled appearances from a similar string of guests focused on the Latino and Latina communities in the state.
Guest speakers will be Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Rios; Executive Director of ALL in Education, Stephanie Parra; President & CEO of Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Monica Villalobos; University of Arizona Ph.D. Associate Dean for Community Engagement, College of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Maribel Alvarez; Arizona State University School of Social Work’s Office of Latino Projects Director, Dr. David Becerra; University of Arizona School of Education Educational Policy and Practice Associate Professor, Dr. Nolan Cabrera; Chief Development Officer and Former Valle del Sol Leadership Development Director, Angela Florez; National Association of Latino Elected/Appointed Officials (NALEO) Education Fund Director of Civic Engagement Research, Dorian Caal; and four school board members from across the state, Eva Carrillo Dong, Devin Del Palacio, Monica Trejo, and Tadeo De La Hoya.
One of the guest speakers for the pre-conference, Cabrera, has caused controversy in recent years. His past work within the Tucson Unified School District with Mexican American Studies classes was panned, and in 2019 he accused University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins of not recognizing White Supremacy because Border Patrol agents were visiting a campus career fair.
The rest of the speaker series will focus on equity across all races overall.
The Equity Event will take place virtually from April 22 through the 23. Registration opened March 8, and the deadline to register was Wednesday, April 14.
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
I am a busy mom of 4 wonderful children and a wife of a hard working husband. I had the best memories of watching each of my children experience their 1st year of school in the Peoria Unified School District (PUSD). Their teachers were kind, engaging and overall the same experience I had in PUSD growing up. My husband and I had the great memories at Frontier Elementary and Sunrise Mountain High School.
Something in the schools changed in January 2021. I noticed a shift in my two older children’s content in the classrooms. My oldest had said he felt uncomfortable one day after watching the Presidential Inauguration in class. I had no clue that both my 2nd grader and 4th grader had a classroom activity that involved the viewing of the inauguration. I reached out to their teachers who have always been very helpful. I was surprised by the reason for the inauguration being shown in class. I was told by my 4th grader’s teacher that “the team” decided to change the lesson plan from Martin Luther King Jr. week to the viewing of the Inauguration as a “teachable moment” – although the same could not be said of the 2016 inauguration. This is where I began my journey into figuring out what was going on in the District.
I began reaching out to other parents for information and attending Governing Board Meetings. I wanted to know if there were other parents going through similar situations. And of course there was.
I started learning about parental rights under Arizona Revised Statutes and how they applied in the schools. I worked together with a support group of parents. Together we formed a parent Facebook group so we could stay in touch and have meetings to share what we learned. We started going through governing board agendas and seeing what was being voted through. We wanted to learn more about how the process works, how much power came from the Board and how much the Board really knew about what administration is putting into our kid’s education.
One thing I noticed was how little effort the Peoria Unified School District puts into helping parents and the community understand the whole governing board process such as the adoption of district policies, requesting public records and more.
For example, I learned curriculum resource materials are only allowed to be viewed at the district office. We need better access and more effort by the District to make materials /curriculum proposed for Board approval available especially now that so much of the curricula and supplemental materials are digital.
With help from a few people on the outside who knew how things worked, I learned how to request public records on professional Teacher development programs and communication emails in the District that included curriculum.
I talked with other parents about the curriculum and the ideas that were being taught to their kids in the upper grade levels. I learned that topics such as discrimination throughout American history is being taught with black lives matter; George Floyd, mob mentality, CNN news resource in classroom assignments and students knowing their teachers political affiliation was all showing up in middle school classes. During all my years as a student in the Peoria Unified School District – K-12 – I never knew any of my teachers’ political affiliations.
I started to learn more about Critical Race Theory and the idea behind diversity, equity and inclusion.
As a parent with two children with disabilities on Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) that affect their everyday lives I thought the inclusion idea was great. But the diversity, equity and inclusion that I had researched was twisted and not actually for children with disabilities.
I didn’t want any curriculum or program teaching my children that they were privileged based on their race. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to teach a child that their skin color determines who they are in life. My mother and grandparents always taught me to reach for my goals and work hard for my future. America has always taught that anyone can succeed in this country.
I started reading through the different items on the April 5th board meeting agenda. Once I started looking at the supplemental material vendor lists of three contracts under the Consent Agenda I reached out to our group. We worked together to figure out what was on each vendor website.
The content for some of the vendors was not easily accessed without subscription; some vendors had their message of the same concept of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and more. The ones that really stood out were Cengage, Gale, Savvas Learning Company (formerly Pearson Publishing known for Common Core) and Everfi . These are just a few of the vendors which are all part of the SAVE consortium contract on the Consent Agenda. Topics on these websites included Social justice, gender identity book titles for all grade levels, Culturally Responsive Learning, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, LGBTQ even for younger grades like kindergarten and more.
One of the vendors, Everfi, has a description of Diversity Foundations for High school that introduces learners to key concepts of identity, bias, power, privilege and oppression. In that lesson learners explore the concepts of power, privilege, oppression, discrimination and racism.
The real shocker was the day of the board meeting when I was able to access the Peoria Public Library’s database list. Of course Gale Academic One File, the vendor listed on the SAVE Contract, was listed. I clicked on the link and was taken to the actual website where I had to type in the barcode of the library card.
From there I typed in a title provided by the contact from Colorado (who had the same situation with Gale and Cengage Company in their child’s district) called Abuse Porn: Reading Reactions to Boys Halfway House. The article was very descriptive on an adult website for boys and at the bottom of the article I saw the sources listed with 4 blue links. The 1st link took me off the Gale website and directly to a gay pornographic webpage. To say I was shocked is an understatement.
I had in four days discovered controversial topics, hidden content and links to pornographic websites off of one contract the District wanted to purchase for their teachers to use in our children’s classrooms. The curriculum department explained that the district had to choose curriculum that matched changes to the AZ State Standards. When they began their “process” they turned to a preapproved contract complied by Mesa Public School District for the SAVE Consortium so that the work was done for them and would be a “cheaper” process.
My questions are why is no one else in the district curriculum department checking through these vendor websites before bringing them to the Board for approval and into our children’s classrooms?
How could the Superintendent Reynolds and his staff in the Curriculum Department fail our children and our trust by not researching EVERY single vendor listed on that contract?
Why would the district not want to invest in the time and money searching for outstanding and appropriate resources for our kids learning?
This contract was on the Consent Agenda for approval of the Board without discussion and only as a financial expenditure with no information being provided by the curriculum department about the content.
I am grateful to James T. Harris for having me on his radio show so other parents could hear what is going on. These same parents came to the standing room only board meeting to voice their disapproval of the content of these supplemental materials and the associated websites.
It reminded me of America and how strong it can be when we come together. I spoke at the board meeting and talked about my findings of links to porn websites from the supplemental vendor resources.
Thankfully, board member and Representative Beverly Pingerelli (R LD21), with support of board member Rebecca Hill, motioned to table all three contracts and have the curriculum team bring forward exactly which vendors they wanted to use in the schools. The board all voted in favor of this idea and Beverly Pingerelli asked to allow the parents to view the content of each vendor.
There’s nothing better than sending your child off to school for their first day. These are moments you cherish for a lifetime. You trust the teacher. You trust the principal. You just trust. Then all the sudden the trust is gone and you’re left with fighting those you trusted. Those you trusted to educate your child.
