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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

Winning Strategy for Parents Against Critical Race Theory

By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D. August 14, 2021

The teaching of the Marxist based Critical Race Theory in American schools has triggered a national outrage not seen since the federal government imposed national Common Core Standards. Yet with all this focused energy, the odds for winning are long. Just like Common Core, this civilization killing cancer will be rebranded and move like a death angel across our land.

Let’s look at the obstacles faced by parents.

State Legislation

To get state legislation passed, parents must find lawmakers who are willing to draft a bill with strong language. Then the bill must wind through the various legislative channels before finally getting passed, killed or allowed to die.

The major obstacle is that many bills, like that of Texas, leave a loophole because local schools have protested – and politicians listen – that they must be able to maintain local control under the Constitution’s 10th Amendment. However, they don’t seem concerned about giving up 100% control to the federal government to get back 10% federal funding. Never mind that this money has been handed to the government with no restrictions by the taxpayers. The primary right to educate children lies with the parents, which was reaffirmed in a 1925 U.S. Supreme Court decision. Yet some teachers have stated publicly that they have freedom of speech in the classroom without parents knowing what is being taught – even if it is Critical Race Theory and even if it has been banned by the state.

FACT: That’s not true because K-12 teachers are public employees and subject to employer rules.

Because of the amendments that Republicans allowed to be added, the Texas bill (HB3979) is worse than not having a ban at all. So why have a law that gives on the one hand and takes back with the other hand? As one lawmaker’s office conceded to me when pressed, the bill is simply “political posturing.” The lawmaker can claim to his constituents that he has supported a CRT ban knowing that the vast majority of people will never read the bill nor question it if they do.

Flipping School Boards

Parents must find candidates, raise money, and field campaigns and then repeat the process over several election cycles until the board has a conservative majority. Meanwhile, we continue to train new generations of Marxists.

What many parents don’t understand is that even a conservative board has very limited power to effect real change. Abolishing CRT or leftwing indoctrination or dumbed down curricula will not be changed by the school board. The real authority lies with the superintendent and state and federal governments.

Local School Libraries

Parents are finding many anti-white, anti-America, anti-parent, transgenderism, and LGBT books in school libraries. Principals and superintendents often feign ignorance when approached about these objectionable books. Their promises to look into the matter continues to drags on until the parent is worn down and gives up the fight. They claim that the parent is the only one who has complained and then target the student. Many parents will remain silent so their children won’t be singled out for retaliation.

Local Schools

Parents by law have the right to see any instructional materials and tests that students are given. Even so, some teachers and schools refuse parental access to these and keep textbooks in the classroom away from the eyes of parents. Some schools refuse to allow teachers to record anything classroom activity.

Legislation and school board bans will be undermined by many public school teachers and administration because the entire public education system is broadly leftist and supports the Marxist Critical Theory ideology upon which CRT is based.

Trying to fire a bad teacher is a nightmare for the principal and the teacher usually wins the battle. One option for the principal is to place the teacher in a “rubber room” where they idle the days away while a second teacher takes over the class. Two teachers are then on the payroll for one class. Will rubber room teachers quit? Some have spent years in rubber rooms.

Lawsuits

Going to court is an expensive and useless activity for conservatives since we now have many leftwing judges. However, large national non-profit organizations have been successful with lawsuits for conservative causes.

Teacher unions

Teacher unions are funding lawsuits for schools and teachers to overturn the anti-CRT measures. They will be uphold by leftwing judges who advance the Marxist agenda. Teacher unions push radical curriculum, such as LGBT and transgenderism, into the classrooms.

Federal CRT Programs

Through the American Rescue Plan of 2021, Congress has allocated $200 billion for COVID relief funds to reopen K-12. School districts must use 20% for SEL -- a vehicle for teaching CRT -- and it must include Critical Race Theory with “free, anti-racist therapy for White educators.”

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed federal grants for American History and Civics Education programs. Although references to the 1619 Project and Ibram X. Kendi have been eliminated, the revised proposal still advocates Critical Race Theory in all but name.

If the Civics Secures Democracy Act (H.R. 1814 - S 879) is passed, CRT programs will receive $1 billion annually for six years and teacher colleges will receive $150 million annually for 6 years to teach CRT.

Elections

Any progress made by conservatives in abolishing CRT at any level can be undone by Democrats within one or two election cycles.

A winning strategy

This struggle to abolish Critical Race Theory has a parallel in American history -- the battle against Common Core. Tens of thousands of parents pulled out all stops to get rid of it but, in the end, their efforts changed nothing, not even in Republican controlled states. Republicans were complicit in codifying Common Core in the Every Student Succeeds Act (which was supposed to “fix” No Child Left Behind). Now Common Core has been rebranded under various names and lives on. As conservatives learn CRT terms and how to identify it, activists will simply rebrand it.

Since the purpose of public education is to train students for a socialist state, indoctrination and radical sex programs will continue. Because of its intended purpose, public education cannot be “reformed.” Our only choice is to remove our children from these communist institutions and provide them with indoctrination-free academic learning. There are many free market education options available to parents including those with both parents working. The number of students who have withdrawn from public education for other learning options has doubled over the past year and still more will not be returning this fall. As that trend continues, public schools will be defunded and the money and education authority will once again go directly to parents.

In the meantime, parents must organize to challenge schools and school boards. If America is to survive as a free nation, we cannot allow Critical Race Theory to become institutionalized in our schools.

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