A teachers union in Tennessee filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s education department over its restrictions on curriculum surrounding race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to ABC News, the Tennessee Education Association and five public school educators are behind the lawsuit against the 2021 law. The law was implemented to keep devise ideology, like Critical Race Theory and gender theory, out of public schools.
The law reportedly requires an "impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history" as well as "impartial instruction on the historical oppression of a particular group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, or geographic region." Specifically, the law prohibits teaching that a person “by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously” and other concepts regarding “systematic racism.”
In a statement, Tanya Coats, the president of the Tennessee Education Association, claimed that the law “interferes with Tennessee teachers’ job to provide a fact-based, well-rounded education to their students.”
The lawsuit reportedly claims that “Tennessee educators have been faced with the threat that a student or parent will trigger an enforcement proceeding under the Ban's ill-defined standards, resulting in termination, license revocation, and reputational damage, for teaching lessons they have taught for years,” adding that it has impacted field trips to historical sites.
On X, the teachers union claimed that students in the state will fall behind because of the law.
TN students will fall behind their peers in other states if this law stays on the books. We are already seeing school leaders make changes to instruction and school activities due to the risk of losing state funding, facing unfair repercussions or threats. https://t.co/SZX0UVofsr pic.twitter.com/qeNGIwiIen
— Tennessee Education Association (@TEA_teachers) July 26, 2023
During the 2021 bill signing, Gov. Bill Lee’s (R) press secretary said that he “believes Tennessee students should be taught history and civics with facts, not divisive political commentary,” The Tennessean reported.
Since then, other states, like Florida, have passed laws prohibiting this kind of divisive curriculum in the classrooms.