Here in Kentucky, Republicans are trying to figure out just how racist and bigoted they want public schools to be forced to be, with a number of competing bills to stop the dreaded "Critical Race Theory" from ever being forced down kids' throats or something, despite it definitely not being taught anywhere in this damn state. The results are laughably unconstitutional bills that not only make teaching the sobering failures of American history impossible, the latest state Senate bill actually mandates indoctrination of right-wing Republican dogma.
In response to outcry over "critical race theory," a top Kentucky Republican filed a bill outlining what and how kids should be taught about the nation's history.
Touching on themes from measures in the House aimed at eradicating "CRT" from classrooms, Senate Bill 138 clarifies that teachers can discuss historical events such as slavery and oppression but should note such things ran counter to the country's founding values.
It would also prohibit schools from requiring educators to discuss current events with students or participate in race-related training.
The bill from Sen. Max Wise, a Campbellsville Republican who chairs the chamber's education committee, says lessons should be consistent with a set of American principles.
Among them are the values that all people are created equal and individuals are not responsible for things those of the same race or sex did. People should be judged by their character, not their race or sex, the bill says.
Students should be taught slavery, segregation and racial discrimination are "contrary to the fundamental American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," it says, but blaming racial disparities solely on the nation's history is "destructive to the unification of our nation."
Teachers would need to remain consistent with the notion that any American can succeed when they are "given sufficient opportunity and is committed to seizing that opportunity through hard work, pursuit of education, and good citizenship," the bill continues.
The measure's tone is "a little more positive" than two bills filed in the House aimed at curbing how teachers discuss race, Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for the Senate Republicans, said.
It doesn't preclude conversations from happening, she said, but provides some parameters for them.
The House bills sparked outcry from educators, who said the broad list of banned topics would block them from teaching the ugly parts of the country's history.
SB 138 attempts to address those concerns, saying the bill should not limit "impartial" instruction on controversial topics and the oppression of marginalized groups.
But school districts would not be allowed to require teachers to discuss controversial public policy topics or current events with students. Educators who do take on these conversations would be required to do so from "diverse and contending perspectives" without deferring to any perspective.
"It is clear from the bills that continue to be introduced that the Republican-led legislature is intent on limiting discourse about the realities of our history," KY 120 United-AFT, a group of educators and public employees, said in reaction to the bill. "We do not have to wonder whose reality counts when we see this kind of legislation."
If passed, around two dozen historical documents and speeches would be required to be taught in middle and high school history classes.
Many of them — including the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and court opinions in Brown v. Board of Education — are likely already taught. Others, including Ronald Reagan's 1964 "A Time for Choosing" speech, are a little less common.
So yes, next year Kentucky classrooms will be filled with "America is the greatest nation that ever existed", Reagan's awful anti-government, anti-Black speeches, and GOP doctrine. Current events like the fact these kids will grow up in increasingly worse climate events and mass shootings? Nobody would dare.
There's your "indoctrination", folks.
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