Oklahoma State Board Of Education Emergency Rule Targets Critical Race Theory

On Monday, the Oklahoma State Board of Education voted to adopt emergency rules that has been interpreted as banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools and that would suspend the teaching licenses of teachers who promote racial discrimination.

“The emergency rules state that the Oklahoma State Board of Education prohibits discrimination on the basis of race or sex in the form of bias, stereotyping, scapegoating, classification, or the categorical assignment of traits, morals, values, or characteristics bases solely on race or sex,” Fox 25 reported.

The emergency rules outlined in House Bill 1775, which was signed into law by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in May, state:

No teacher, administrator or other school employee shall require or make part of any Course offered in a public school the following discriminatory principles:  

One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; An individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex; Members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex; An individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex: An individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex: Any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of  psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex, or; Meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race. 

Katherine Bishop, President of the Oklahoma Education Association, issued the following statement:

The Oklahoma Education Association is pleased the State Board of Education affirmed in their emergency rule decision today, the importance of teaching history, social studies, English language arts, biology or any other subject matter area consistent with the Oklahoma Academic Standards. We believe this should clear up some confusion and gives Oklahoma’s educators the confidence to continue teaching as they have been since the standards were adopted. We encourage the involvement of education professionals in the full rule-making process moving forward. We hope clarity on this topic will allow educators the time to focus on the needs of students as we all go back to school this fall.

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