The larger target of anti-critical race theory bills may be public education itself
Conservatives have long disdained America's public education system. They routinely grumble about "government schools" and often spend their policy energy trying to shepherd students to alternatives like charter schools and homeschooling, or to private schools using vouchers. So you have to wonder if, on some level, the recent Republican outcry over critical race theory is a Trojan horse to take down public schools.
Evidence for this idea comes from Tennessee, which is currently implementing a new anti-CRT law in its public schools. As The Washington Post reports, the law doesn't just ban the teaching of concepts like "the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist" — it imposes draconian punishments on schools that allow such teachings to take place. Offending schools could lose up to $5 million from their budgets, or as much as 10 percent of their annual state aid for repeated violations. (As the Post points out, even a $1 million budget cut for a first-time offense would be equivalent to funding for 100 students.) Teachers could also be disciplined or lose their licenses for violations of the law.
The problems here are obvious. Tennessee's schools are already underfunded and the teachers underpaid. And finding violations of the law might turn out to be really easy — one group of parents already has raised objections to a book about Ruby Bridges, the first black girl to attend an all-white school in New Orleans during the first wave of desegregation in the 1950s. It raises questions about whether any truthful recounting of recent history will be deemed kosher. At best, the new law seems likely to chase good teachers away from Tennessee schools, either to other states or out of the profession, rather than risk the aggressive scrutiny they'll face. At worst, the schools could face crippling budget cuts. Either result would have the effect of undermining the public schools, and parents' confidence in them. Is that the point, or just — from a conservative point of view — a nice byproduct of the CRT debate?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There would be a precedent for this. After the Supreme Court ordered school desegregation in 1954, Southern officials responded with a "massive resistance" campaign to defund and close public schools; white students fled to thousands of newly created private segregation academies. Scholars say the conservative school choice movement originated in those efforts. Then as now, race panics are undermining public schools.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
'A new era of hurricanes'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
How Britain's demographic is changing
A 50-year record population increase was fuelled by greater migration
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
The story of Japanese jeweller Tasaki
The Blend A revival in the use of pearls in fashion and jewellery design places heritage brand Tasaki centre stage
By Felix Bischof Published
-
What power does Elon Musk hold as a campaigner?
Talking Points The world's richest man is going all in to get Donald Trump elected in November — whether it will make a difference is entirely unclear
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How Trump's 'dark' rhetoric could motivate undecided voters
Talking Points 'This is a dark — this a dark speech,' Trump said in Wisconsin
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is a wider regional war finally at hand in the Middle East?
Talking Points Iran and Israel ramp up the rhetoric
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why Kamala Harris is quietly embracing crypto
Talking Points Young men, big donors both matter in the campaign
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade
Speed Read Only one of the accused was found liable in the case concerning the deliberate slowing of a 2020 Biden campaign bus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is the media 'sanewashing' Trump?
Talking Points Critics say there's a disconnect between 'reality and reported news'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Tucker Carlson's WWII interview fractures conservatives
Talking Points Holocaust revisionism forces 'introspection' in right-wing media
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published