Here’s the truth about critical race theory in WA state schools | Editorial

Contrary to a surge of misinformation online, there is no new law requiring Washington state public schools to adopt the controversial “critical race theory” curriculum.

This point needs to be made clear.

The law that was approved last April by the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee requires a professional training day for school district staff that focuses on topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, local school boards will have a choice over how this new requirement is met.

The training isn’t just about race. It’s about helping teachers so they can create a sense of belonging for everyone in the classroom, as well as help encourage self-respect in every student.

The truth is not nearly as threatening as people are being led to believe. However, the confusion over ESSB 5044 is completely understandable.

A quick Google search reveals a list of headlines stating that Washington state is mandating critical race theory in all public schools.

But such claims are false. Critical race theory, also referred to as CRT, is not even mentioned in the bill, nor is any specific curriculum.

If politicians and others are concerned that ESSB 5044 is the first step toward pushing critical race theory beliefs on school children, well then, that’s a more acceptable conversation starter.

But implying the new law forces schools to teach state-mandated courses on racism is wrong.

Here in the Tri-Cities, Richland parents already have raised the issue to the school board, and the Herald has received letters to the editor with similar concerns.

The national debate over critical race theory, no doubt, is whipping up emotions.

Critical race theory comes from 1970s academia when legal scholars — including the late civil rights activist and Harvard Law School professor Derrick Bell — coined the phrase as a way to describe how embedded racism affects America’s legal and social systems.

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last year spurred discussion of systemic racism in the United States, causing school leaders around the country to take a renewed look at bias in classrooms and in school curriculum.

But opponents see critical race theory as a menacing agenda based on Marxist ideology with a goal of undermining capitalism, democracy and freedom. They fear it is discriminatory and will cause divisiveness.

Idaho and several other Republican-led states have banned critical race theory as a preemptive measure against this perceived threat.

A common concern among conservative lawmakers is that white students will be taught that they, as individuals, should be ashamed for atrocities in the past, such as slavery.

At a news conference in March, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said there’s no room in the classroom for things like critical race theory and that “teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money.”

It’s this kind of inflammatory and dangerous rhetoric that is likely making Washington state citizens confuse staff equity training with critical race theory.

The thing is, state school leaders have been working on ways to close the opportunity gap between white students and students of color for years. Back in 2016, state school officials released a comprehensive report on this issue and noted that “there are still structural issues with institutionalized racism, disparate educational opportunities, and different treatment experienced by students of color.”

These problems have been problems for too long and they need fixing.

The Washington Roundtable, a nonprofit economic policy group, and other school leaders are rightly concerned with the “COVID slide,” and how that will affect student achievement.

With the pandemic putting a halt to in-person learning for most of this past school year, learning loss is expected to be greatest for Black, Hispanic and Latinx, and low-income students, according to a recent Washington Roundtable report.

Dramatic improvements are needed in our schools to address this disparity. If staff training can help teachers better connect with every student in their classroom, then it shouldn’t be feared as something sinister.

And that is the crux of Washington state’s new equity law for schools. That it has been touted as the same as critical race theory is unfortunate, and it’s time to get the message out that it’s not.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 12:32 PM.