Censoring Curriculum in Schools
Updated Nov. 25, 2024
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Introduction
Schools and universities have long been battlegrounds for high-stakes disputes about free speech in the U.S. Tensions in recent years, however, have stemmed less from the misadventures of inflammatory guest speakers or uncouth staff, but from something much more fundamental: what students are taught. PEN America, a free-expression advocacy group, identified eight “educational gag orders” – or direct restrictions on classroom speech – enacted in 2024; they also reported five additional policies that indirectly endanger academic freedom in higher education. This brings the total to 47 educational gag orders and 10 higher education restrictions passed between January 1, 2021, and October 1, 2024.
Amidst such findings, public school boards and state governments over the years have also restricted specific books from being taught in their classrooms or circulating in school libraries. Conservative lawmakers, the chief architects of these bills, claim they’re protecting American youth from a “radical” and “un-American” educational agenda. But their opponents see something far more sinister: a crass attempt to suppress subjects and perspectives that challenge tidy, simplistic, and exclusionary narratives of the American experience.
Overview
- The PEN America Index of Education Gag Orders
- Steep Rise in Gag Orders, Many Sloppily Drafted, PEN America, January 2022
- Proposed curriculum censorship bills increased 250% in 2022, K-12 Dive, August 2022
- About 1 in 4 teachers changed curriculum, instruction due to recent legal restrictions, K-12 Dive, January 2023
- America’s Censored Classrooms 2024, PEN America, October 2024
Case Study—Critical Race Theory
What is ‘Critical Race Theory’ (CRT)?
- Take a look at how the NAACP and the American Bar Association define the doctrine
- Critical Race Theory: A Brief History, The New York Times, November 2021
Why do people care about it?
- The GOP’s Critical Race Theory Obsession, The Atlantic, May 2021
- Disputing Racism’s Reach, Republicans Rattle American Schools, The New York Times, June 2021
Bans & Pushback
- CRT Map: Efforts to restrict teaching racism and bias have multiplied across the U.S., Chalkbeat, February 2022
- CRT Forward: The UCLA School of Law Critical Race Studies Program. Click here for their map of Critical Race Theory restrictions.
This Brookings Institution blog post provides a helpful (if slightly outdated) list of legislation from the local, state and federal level attempting to limit the teaching of race-sensitive topics in schools. Read through some curriculum censorship laws from…
- Texas [Section 3] (signed into law in September 2021)
- Arizona [Section 15-717.02] (signed into law in June 2021)
- New Hampshire [Section 354 A:31] (signed into law in June 2021)
- Idaho (signed into law in April 2021)
- Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry bans teaching of critical race theory in schools, Louisiana Illuminator, August 2024
As of 2024, many more states have passed laws or implemented policies restricting the teaching of Critical Race Theory, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Take a look at some federal proposals
- The Stop CRT Act (introduced in the Senate on July 2021; died in committee)
- The PEACE Act (introduced in the Senate on August 2021; died in committee)
- ‘Critical Race Theory Is Simply the Latest Boogeyman.’ Inside the Fight Over What Kids Learn About America’s History, Time, July 2021
- Scholarly Groups Condemn Laws Limiting Teaching on Race, The New York Times, June 2021
- Bans of Critical Race Theory Threaten Free Speech, Advocacy Groups Say, The New York Times, November 2021
- The Protecting Students from Racial Hostility Act (Introduced in the Senate in January 2023)
- Empowering Parents Act (Introduced in the House in September 2023)
Take a look at some lawsuits in opposition to restrictions on CRT and other curriculum
- Black Emergency Response Team v. O’Connor, The ACLU, October 2021
- Mejia et al v. Edelblut et al, GLAD Law, December 2021
- Few legal challenges to laws limiting lessons on race, gender The Washington Post, March 2023
- Mae M. v Komrosky, Education Week, August 2023
- School District’s Anti-CRT Resolution Prompts Lawsuit From Teachers and Students, EducationWeek, August 2023
- Central High plaintiffs sue Sanders, Oliva over targeting of AP African American Studies, Arkansas Times, March 2024
- Judge hears arguments in Arkansas LEARNS indoctrination case, NPR, October 2024
Changing attitudes and actions toward CRT
- Anti-Critical-Race-Theory Laws Are Slowing Down. Here Are 3 Things to Know, Education Week, March 26, 2024
- Narratives about critical race theory and Americans’ beliefs about public schools, Brookings Institution, April 18, 2024
Related Incidents from the Tracker
- Department of Education threatens to withhold funding for Middle East studies program – December 2019
- Boise State suspends, later resumes ethics and diversity course following student complaints June 2021
- Virginia launches an email tip line for parents to report teaching of critical race theory in public schools – March 2022
- Florida governor signs controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill into law, public confrontations grow – April 2022
- Florida rejects math textbooks over “prohibited topics’ – May 2022
- South Dakota governor issues executive order banning CRT in public schools, after signing bill rejecting ‘divisive concepts’ in state universities – June 2022
- College Board purges material from AP African American studies course after pushback from Florida – March 2023
- Hamline University professor who showed image of the prophet Muhammad sues after being fired – February 2023
- Florida English professor fired over teaching racial justice unit – April 2023
- Federal appellate court rejects claim that Virginia Tech’s bias reporting policy chills Free Speech– May 2023
- Arkansas law imposes jail time for librarians and booksellers who provide “harmful” content to minors – June 2023
- Theater teacher alleges he was fired from Tennessee private school due to content of plays – July 2023
- Book on Princeton course syllabus stirs antisemitism controversy – August 2023
- English teacher in South Carolina returns to work following controversy over her curriculum on race – September 2023
- Celebrities sign joint letter opposing book bans by school districts – October 2023
- Florida school district sued after dictionary and other books removed from schools for alleged sexual content, case moves forward to jury trial – January 2024
Point / Counterpoint
- State Education Officials Must Restore a Sense of National Character in Public Schools, Mike Gonzalez & Jonathan Butcher, The Heritage Foundation, April 2021
- Demonizing Critical Race Theory, Charles Blow, The New York Times, June 2021
- New York Times Op-Ed Illustrates How The Left Employs Critical Race Theory Gaslighting, Gabe Kaminsky, The Federalist, June 2021
- The War on History Is a War on Democracy, Timothy Snyder, The New York Times Magazine, June 2021
- The panic over critical race theory is an attempt to whitewash U.S. history, Kimberlé Crenshaw, The Washington Post, July 2021
- We Disagree on a Lot of Things. Except the Danger of Anti-Critical-Race-Theory Laws, Kmele Foster, David French, Jason Stanley & Thomas Chatterton Williams, The New York Times, July 2021
- Disingenuous defenses of critical race theory, Christopher Rufo, New York Post, July 2021
- We Must Fight Un-American Race Theories, Kyle Smith, National Review, July 2021
- There Is No Debate Over Critical Race Theory, Ibram X. Kendi, The Atlantic, July 2021
- Everybody’s Getting CRT Wrong on Purpose, Mona Charen, The Bulwark, January 2022
- Ted Cruz Defends State Bans on Teaching CRT, Gender Ideology: ‘Curriculum Is Not Censorship’, Caroline Downey, National Review, April 2022
- Book Banning, Curriculum Restrictions, and the Politicization of U.S. Schools, Center for American Progress, September 2022
- Ron DeSantis is picking yet another fight with the College Board — and losing, Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC, August 2023
- Tennessee censorship laws directly affect children’s ability to learn to read, Meili Powell, The Tennessean, June 2023
- The School Issues We’re Battling Over Aren’t the Ones That Matter, Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, March 2024
- What are CRT critics so afraid Louisiana students will learn, anyway?, Ed Pratt, The Advocate, August 2024
- We should eliminate critical race theory from NM’s public education system, Ant Thornton, The Albuquerque Journal, September 2024
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think CRT, an otherwise obscure legal theory, has become the crux of such a heated national debate surrounding education? Why now?
- What do you make of conservative diatribes against CRT and similarly ‘divisive’ topics? Are they little more than cynical attempts to suppress discussions about oppressive dynamics and unsavory moments from the country’s past? How might you sympathize with their concerns?
- How should American history be taught? What narratives and incidents should be prioritized, and why?
- Are there any topics that should be added and covered more in educational curricula? If so, justify their inclusion.
- Are there any topics that should be excluded from educational curricula? If so, justify their exclusion.
- How have past educational standards for American history shaped people’s perceptions of the country? How are current standards shaping people’s perceptions? What standards would you change or keep for the future?
- Who should get to determine what is (or isn’t) taught in schools? Legislatures, school boards, parents, individual teachers?
Additional Materials
Activity
Click on these themes below: Artistic Expression + Legal Action
Discuss: What does this confluence of stories with these filters tell us about Free Speech issues surrounding educational requirements and curriculum development?