State officials, activists and educators have largely shaped public dialogue about Texas’ social studies overhaul, but young people added their voices to the conversation Tuesday, calling for instruction that includes diverse perspectives and challenges them to think critically.

The majority-Republican education board began last year to redesign Texas’ social studies standards, which outline what students need to learn by the time they graduate. The board plans to finalize the standards this summer, with classroom implementation expected in 2030.

Up to this point, a majority of the board has to center Texas and U.S. history in social studies while deemphasizing world cultures, world history and geography. A has helped guide the process, almost all of whom have no K-12 classroom experience in Texas and several of whom have ties to . Critics say the panel has assumed full control of Texas’ social studies rewrite, undermining teacher expertise. of the social studies changes, critics argue, prioritize memorization over critical thinking and simplification over accuracy.

The students who testified before the State Board of Education on Tuesday, the first of four days of meetings in Austin, expressed disappointment in the overhaul — saying it focuses too heavily on Western civilization at the expense of other cultures, lacks historical perspective of people of color, and prioritizes Christianity over other major world religions.

They want to learn the good, bad and ugly aspects of history. They want to understand why things happened and how they connect to other events. They want the board to give parents and teachers more opportunities for input. They want the board to slow down and take more time to develop the standards. They want to eliminate political agendas. They want to feel seen.

“We know when something is being left out,” said Caiden Davis, a high school junior from Humble. “What we need from our schools isn’t a watered-down version of history. We need the truth even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it challenges us.”

Instead of omitting perspectives, said Houston student Zayra Espinoza, Texas should “focus on supporting teachers, investing in students and ensuring classrooms remain spaces for learning, not political control.”

And students need to see their perspectives reflected in social studies, because “everyone deserves to be represented,” said sixth-grader Jomeyra Sharif.

“Schools should do more to promote equality, respect different cultures, and making all students feel included,” Sharif said, “so they can be proud to be American.”

The board will finalize the standards in June. Meetings have only grown more contentious as the deadline moves closer.

Democrats have sought honest depictions of slavery and the historical contributions of people of color. Republicans want to prioritize American exceptionalism and Christianity, criticizing Muslim Texans who testify in favor of Islam being depicted in lessons accurately and fairly. Teachers feel excluded, calling the process rushed and early proposals inadequate. Many feel political actors have assumed control of a process that should instead focus on educating students.

Students who spoke Tuesday, during a meeting that stretched beyond 12 hours, said they want social studies instruction to include more women, Hispanic and Black perspectives. They want to learn about African kingdoms. They want to know more about the Middle East.

When students are not challenged to do more than just identify and describe historical events, “that means less analyzing, less questioning, and less discussion,” said Gannon Davis Keener, a seventh-grader in Humble.

“I want to learn history in a way that challenges me to think, not just remember,” Keener said. “I respectfully ask that you slow down and allow teachers and parents a greater role in revising these standards to keep the level of thinking high so students can truly learn, understand and enjoy history.”

This first appeared on .

In the past few years, the world has seemed to change faster than ever. Smartphones, AI, social media and the constant flow of information have transformed daily life. Yet one thing has barely changed: the history curriculum in K–12 schools. The world may be moving fast, but history textbooks are not.

The war in Iran shows how badly educators need to change the way we teach the past. We can’t begin with distant history — the 13 colonies, ancient Egypt or classical Greece — and expect students to figure out why any of it matters. We need to begin with the world students are living in now, with the headlines they already see every day. They need to understand what’s happening in Iran before they learn it was once the Persian empire. Once they understand the present, they can begin to understand why the story of how we got here matters.

History explains our nation’s politics, our institutions, our ideas and our wars. But why should students care about how we got to the modern world if they do not understand the modern world in the first place? It is hard to make sense of the past, or even care about it, if you do not understand the present.

And yet, America still teaches history from the colonial period or classical antiquity forward. Our curricula, though not our teachers, assume students will make the connection from past to present on their own. But the worldview of a 14-year-old, fresh out of middle school and getting most of their news from TikTok, will be incomplete at best.

Schools cannot begin with history without first asking what they know about the present: Do they know where Iran is? (.) What kind of government it has? How its economy works? Why the region matters geopolitically? If we asked, we would find that many students know very little about the wider world as it exists right now. That helps explain why they so often struggle to care about its history.

Because classrooms so often teach Ivan the Terrible and Alexander the Great in a vacuum, they get lackluster results. Scores in U.S. history have declined sharply, with just 13% of middle school students performing at grade level. Yet more than 75% of high school students following current events is important to them, and 93% say more opportunities to discuss current events in the classroom.

At our school, in the Bronx, we focus on computer science, technology and internships. But our mission is larger than that: to prepare students to navigate the economy and the world. A year ago, when we looked at our graduating seniors, we found that many knew little about the world they actually live in. That is why we revamped our 9th-grade history curriculum.

Before teaching U.S. and world history, we teach students about the world as it exists today. In 9th grade, they study geography, economic systems, governments and culture in the present. That way, they can understand history as an attempt to explain the world around them, not as a random collection of facts.

We examine major powers and regions — Iran, China, the U.K., Mexico, Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria and the U.S. — and ask basic questions. How does each country’s economy work? What is its political system? How well does it serve the people who live there? What languages do people speak and what religions do they practice? How do states compete for power?

The result is that students have a framework for everything they learn later in high school.

So when federal food assistance was suspended a few months ago and students in my class were struggling to afford groceries, we turned that into a short study of federal systems and how different levels of government work. When the war in Iran began, our students already had baseline knowledge. I asked why they thought we were at war, and they talked about the strategic value of oil and the challenges of an authoritarian theocracy. They were able to think critically about what they saw on TikTok instead of simply absorbing it.

The crisis led to serious classroom conversations. Students were equipped with knowledge.

Rethinking how schools teach history takes on new urgency because social media now delivers global events to students instantly. They see what is happening in the world whether adults are ready for it or not. As educators, we have a responsibility to help them process that information with reason. We want them to think independently, not simply absorb what an algorithm feeds them.

That is especially important in an age of misinformation. It is also more engaging. When students do not see a connection between school and their own lives, absenteeism rises and disengagement follows. Starting from what is relevant to students’ lives and backgrounds is critical if we want to build students who are curious and eager to learn.

To my fellow educators, especially history teachers: I understand the hesitation. In a hyperpolarized political climate, teaching current events can be a scary and thankless task. But we have to be brave.

If our families and our students see that we are helping them make sense of what is happening in the world right now, they will remember why school matters and why our profession matters to our communities and our country. And if more people understand both the world we live in now and how it got this way, we may be able to educate a generation of leaders better prepared for the crises yet to come.

What steps are being taken to ensure students not only understand their Constitutional rights, but are prepared to use them to strengthen our communities and our democracy?

Civics is not confined to history class, nor high school. It lives in science classrooms from cultivating wonder to debating climate policy; in math classrooms beginning with basic number sense evolving to analyzing public budgets; in English classrooms moving from learning to read into developing the ability to examine persuasive rhetoric; and from classroom discussions to student unions and councils where young people practice democratic debate and take action in ways that are responsible and meaningful to their lives.

These competencies are especially essential in California, where voters regularly decide on high-stakes policy through initiatives and where civic participation has real consequences for budgeting, housing and educational opportunity. 

Civic education fosters the knowledge, skills and dispositions that empower students,beginning as early as transitional kindergarten, to use their voice and understand their rights and responsibilities. It teaches us to engage respectfully with diverse viewpoints and contribute constructively to our communities. 

That goes beyond the memorization of historical facts or the branches of government; it teaches critical thinking across disciplines: how to evaluate sources, separate fact from fiction and make informed decisions that impact public life. 

In California — a state with nearly 40 million residents, a vast and diverse electorate, and one of the nation’s most complex governing systems — teaching young people how government works and how to participate in civic life with respect and empathy is not a luxury. It is a democratic necessity.

Civic Learning Week, March 9 to 13, is an important time to bring civics back to the center of our communities and the lives of students. This nonpartisan week of dialogue and engagement builds awareness of America’s proud democratic traditions. It brings together students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors to make civic education a priority both nationally and in states and communities across the country.

Yet despite broad public support, civic education in practice remains uneven. The 2022 civics results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation’s Report Card, found that only about one in five eighth graders nationwide demonstrated proficiency in the knowledge and skills related to democratic citizenship, the structure of government, and the principles of the American constitutional system. Students who scored higher on the assessment were more likely to report feeling confident in their ability to explain why it is important to pay attention to and participate in the political process.

California has taken meaningful steps to promote civic learning. The , created through legislation signed in 2017 and adopted by the State Board of Education, recognizes students who demonstrate excellence in civic knowledge and participation, including understanding both the U.S. and California constitutions and completing civic engagement projects that address real community issues. This recognition, affixed to student diplomas or transcripts, provides incentives for deeper learning and highlights civic participation as a valuable skill.

To support equitable access to the SSCE, the state budget established the , which brings the California Department of Education together with California Volunteers to expand service-learning opportunities that help students meet civic engagement criteria. Grants through this program encourage schools and districts to build meaningful service experiences, a proven way to connect classroom learning with real-world civic action. 

The — sponsored by the chief justice of California and supported by the Judicial Council and the state superintendent of public instruction — brings judges and civic leaders into classrooms, offers resources for educators and honors exemplary civic learning with annual Civic Learning Awards that recognize schools engaging students in democratic practice. 

And there are many efforts by nonprofit organizations and researchers both statewide and nationally. These efforts matter. But they are not yet reaching every student. California’s ongoing initiatives create meaningful opportunities for broader access to civics education, yet elevating civics to the central role it deserves will require sustained local commitment from students, educators, policymakers and communities.

If civic preparation is essential to our democracy, how is it articulated in the very systems and structures designed to achieve student outcomes? How is civics reflected in school board goals and strategic plans? In priorities and expenditures under each community’s Local Control and Accountability Plan? In staffing decisions, accountability measures and leadership expectations at the state, county, district and school levels? 

As California invests in other large-scale learning efforts, how might educators intentionally embed civic engagement — not only as content to be learned, but as dispositions and skills to be practiced daily?

Strengthening educator support, investing in leadership development, weaving civic learning across the TK–12 experience, and aligning accountability systems with civic outcomes are not peripheral reforms. They are foundational steps toward ensuring that every student, regardless of ZIP code, graduates prepared to participate meaningfully in our democratic society.

California’s future depends on citizens who not only understand how government works, but who are prepared and have agency to make our communities stronger. To uplift voices. To engage in respectful debate. To vote. To volunteer. To question. To lead. Civic education is not “another subject.” It is the foundation of a resilient democracy.

Given that, what are we, individually and collectively, willing to do to elevate civic knowledge, skill, and consciousness at this pivotal juncture?

That includes examining the intellectual and cultural foundations of the holiday: the people, places and events that often get overlooked or erased in social studies curriculums.

Juneteenth, the federal holiday in American history, holds special significance for many educators as it was championed by one of their own. , a former teacher — well into her nineties — led the charge for national recognition. While many schools across the country are off on June 19 in observance, the reason why is not as often taught, says Knowles.

Knowles, CEO and founder of the educational consulting firm Teach Heal Build, focuses on creating culturally affirming classrooms and communities. In April, he published the latest installment in the BOLDLY BLACK workbook series “Mathematics and Science in Ancient Africa.” The set was designed for third graders to explore topical principles and practices tied to Black culture — offering lessons they may not encounter in a traditional school setting.

Ahead of this year’s Juneteenth holiday, ����Ӱ��’s Trinity Alicia spoke with Knowles about what’s shifting in social studies instruction — particularly in Florida, the power of culturally responsive curriculums in today’s political climate and what motivates him in today’s sociopolitical climate.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

����Ӱ��: This year marks the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth, but it’s only been recognized as a federal holiday since 2021. Why is it so important, from an educator’s perspective, that Juneteenth became a national holiday?  

Juneteenth allows both teachers and students to explore some of the deeper, more despondent areas of American history that are often avoided. It helps us step outside traditional narratives and unpack the multiple perspectives and experiences that different people, particularly within the African-American and African diaspora communities, have had throughout American history. In this way, it gives students a chance to better understand the ongoing process of freedom.   

For example, Juneteenth is often seen as the definitive end of slavery, but that’s an oversimplification. In reality, it represents a moment in a much longer and more complex journey toward emancipation. This perspective encourages both teachers and students to engage with history in a more nuanced and meaningful way. 

It was also, for almost as many years, largely left untaught in schools. What impact does that have on America’s students and our society as a whole?  

Having been in education for almost two decades, I’ve seen that when we don’t talk about important historical events — like those highlighted and signified by Juneteenth — we miss the opportunity to open up meaningful conversations in the classroom.   

I’ve witnessed how this silence can lead to the creation of a generation of students who are apathetic, especially when it comes to social justice and socio-economic issues that disproportionately impact marginalized communities. However, when we engage with authentic stories and histories, it gives students the chance to develop empathy, compassion and a broader understanding of others’ experiences. This helps create more open-minded individuals who are better equipped to contribute positively to the diverse society we live in today. 

An educator named Opal Lee, known to be “the grandmother of Juneteenth” was a key advocate for the national recognition of the holiday. What significance does this hold for you knowing a fellow teacher led that charge?

Within the framework of American capitalism, we often fail to give educators the honor, respect and homage they truly deserve. Educators are the ones who mold the minds of our children — they have the power and potential to shape not only students’ academic paths but also their overall life trajectories. When educators are empowered to lead conversations about topics like Juneteenth — and when we recognize that the push to make Juneteenth a national holiday was led by an educator — it highlights the strength and influence we possess as a profession.   

It shows that our impact extends far beyond the walls of the classroom and can resonate throughout society as a whole. We have the ability to unlock the minds of the next generation and to use our knowledge, especially historical knowledge, as a powerful tool for change. By doing so, we not only inspire other educators but also challenge our country to examine all aspects of its past — even the ones that don’t neatly fit the traditional narrative of American history.  

Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of human and civil rights activist Malcolm X, over 10 years ago on Juneteenth, “We’re in denial of the African holocaust.” Malcolm X would’ve been 100 years old last month, and we’re also 60 years from his assassination. On this Juneteenth, what do you want students to remember most about Malcolm X that they might not get from learning about other civil rights activists?  

As we celebrate Juneteenth this year, we must also reflect on civil rights activists beyond the immediate historical context of the holiday — especially when you think about figures like Malcolm X, who are usually misunderstood. His ideals and philosophy were labeled radical when taking a look at what he’s done overall for American history and the Black community in terms of uncovering darker truths as well as the denial of the American government and the experiences of African-Americans.

We live in a landscape right now and we’re told to move on and forget about those things we’re literally still dealing with as a community, but Malcolm X would want us to continue to advocate for our people and our students to be able to share our authentic experiences. And some of those experiences weren’t happy and joyous. But they have perpetrated so much psychological violence, which continues to happen in the classroom. And it was Malcolm X who stated that “only a fool would allow his oppressors to educate his children.”  

What Juneteenth does within Black communities forces us to step up based on the sentiments that Malcolm X expressed within that quote to be able to affirm and be able to become more self-reliant when it comes to our economic issues and social issues. But when it comes to educational issues and being more responsible and more accountable for teaching our history, we’re no longer contingent on systems to be able to teach the truth and history in the United States. 

From the bans on AP African American History courses to the pushback against DEI policies in schools nationwide, how have you navigated this climate as an educator in Florida?

Florida is one of the most prominent hotspots for controversy in education and arguably an epicenter of these debates. We’ve seen significant pushback against inclusive and truthful historical narratives, and it forces educators in schools to sanitize history and continue to perpetuate a fairytale traditional narrative of American history. This sort of censorship disproportionately impacts social studies instruction, which creates a sense of frustration and a disconnect, which leads to a disengagement with students.   

Throughout my work in public education, I have continued to push back and resist by looking at some of our state standards and benchmarks when it comes specifically to social studies and ensuring that I can tie in our stories and tie in those things that people label “controversial” or “political.” I have weaponized the language itself and weaponized some of the state standards so we can continue to tell our stories unredacted. 

Why is it important that Black parents, teachers and administrators are well represented in the decision-making process for schools?

One of the aspects of American history I don’t think that we unpack enough as a community is just some of the deleterious impacts that integration had within the Black community. A lot of the institutions, specifically the educational institution after integration, was absorbed by the dominant, more prevalent society. 

It is important, even within the current state of the system we’re in, that our voices are heard, our perspectives are heard especially when it comes to policies, processes, practices and procedures in education. Those who live in the community can have better, more viable solutions to some of the issues that we contend with within a community. I’ve seen processes within education when people outside of our community are making decisions, and those decisions are not necessarily meeting or accommodating the needs of the community. 

It is beyond critical that Black educators and educational leaders are given space to represent the issues and also the authentic, lived experiences and even some of the cultural norms that exist within those communities so they can be in a position to represent and also advocate for the things that are needed within the Black community.

In your years as an educator and advocate, what surprises you the most about trends and interests among Black students now versus when you were a kid in America? Do Black students and educators come into school — and specifically social studies classes — thinking, “What’s the point?”

Many children, especially those who are informed, are becoming activists around current events tied to identity. Students who are becoming outspoken, specifically a lot of our student-led organizations such as like Black Student Unions, for example, are able to take charge against the racism and bigotry here in Florida and amplify their voices around some of the injustice that is taking place in curriculum, which essentially violates our First Amendment.

You just a new workbook for students, “BOLDLY BLACK: Science and Mathematics in Ancient Africa.” What do you hope to achieve by releasing this series?

Information is widely more available than it was during my high school era in the 1990s simply due to the digital age we live in today. Sometimes we look at technology as being a destructive force, but it influences me to maintain a working knowledge of it in order to effectively show students how to access the information that we couldn’t when we were their ages.

Part of my activism and my solution-based approaches to things we’re dealing with within the Black community, specifically regarding American history that focuses on our experiences, is creating [this] Afro-centric workbook series that is geared towards students from grades three through 12. My third grade title is “Mathematics and Science in Ancient Africa,” and my goal is creating a curriculum that is concise and also digestible within the hands of parents and also community members.

In states where legislation is trying to restrict what we can say and do within the classroom, communities — and specifically Black communities — need to start building their own infrastructures and using some of the space within the Black communities. For example, community centers and also churches are safe, liberating spaces that can be found in Black communities that teach our history. 

Community members and those who may not be experts in pedagogy and pedagogical approaches can pick this up and share this information with their children. Some of those gaps and things that may be missing within the public educational system are now within the hands of the community to be able to educate and affirm all our children.

Thinking about classrooms and curriculums across the country — what keeps you up at night, and what are you most hopeful for?

In this current climate, I have such hope and optimism. I understand that Black communities have gone through far worse. Our whole experience within just the United States even before it became the United States and colonial America has been turmoil. 

But us as Black people have had agency and power to resist the oppression and repression of our voices and our experiences as well as our humanity in this country in the most profound ways. We’ve found ways to resist, push back and also provide for ourselves in order to achieve self-sufficiency in many points within our history. 

I feel hopeful moving forward that even if a public educational space is under attack, we will start to create those liberating spaces in solidarity like we’ve done throughout history in order to rebuild those institutions and infrastructures that were either destabilized or lost through integration. 

Considering all of those variables, there is very little pessimism within me around the things that have taken place and very little fear because, as Kendrick Lamar , “we gon’ be alright.”

The increases, while modest, are being driven by Republicans. Greater percentages of GOP voters say they want students to study social safety net programs like welfare and Medicaid. While there’s still a partisan divide on such topics, 51% of Republicans support students learning about income inequality, compared to 46% in 2021. Support among Democrats held steady at 87%.

“People are supportive of schools teaching about controversial topics from multiple perspectives,” said Morgan Polikoff, a University of Southern California education professor and co-author of the study, drawn from a sample of 4,200 adults, including almost half with school-age children. “They don’t want teachers to be putting their thumb on the scale in terms of one perspective being better than the other.”

The shift comes even as Americans of all political stripes give schools low marks on preparing students to be good citizens, with just 29% offering them an A or B grade. 

But the increasing support among Republicans for teaching issues frequently labelled divisive surprised researchers, suggesting that many conservatives don’t necessarily want to limit what children learn in school — a frequent criticism lodged by critics on the left. Most have either banned or considered legislation outlawing the teaching of what Republicans consider divisive concepts. the mandates have silenced teachers interested in presenting a full account of American history, including its darker chapters. 

The survey also shows Republicans want more attention paid to current events, such as the benefits and challenges of Medicare and Social Security (69%, up from 62% in 2021). The share of Republicans who believe schools should teach about racism also increased, from 54% to 58%. 

“Contrary to the conventional wisdom, there are still plenty of educational issues that garner bipartisan support in this polarized era,” said David Houston, an assistant education professor at George Mason University. “Finding these points of convergence is an important and necessary step toward building broad and durable support for public education in both red and blue communities and from one presidential administration to the next.”

Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, said he prefers a “more conservative approach” to civics that would focus on the Constitution and structures like the electoral college. But he said it’s also “certainly justifiable” for schools to teach students how to interpret the news of the day — like why Democrats held up signs reading “Save Medicaid” during speech to Congress Tuesday night. 

“As we teach students about civics, they should understand how Medicaid came to be, what the relationship is between taxpayers and Medicaid,” he said. “Students should have enough background knowledge and an understanding of how policies have been formed that they can understand what was happening.” 

Teaching ‘with nuance’

Florida is among the red states that prohibit teachers from discussing topics like institutional prejudice or gender equity. bans educators from teaching that someone might be “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.” 

The law is “commonly known for restricting instruction,” said Stephen Masyada, director of the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship at the University of Central Florida. But he thinks that characterization ignores that the legislation also requires students to learn about “the ramifications of prejudice, racism and stereotyping on individual freedoms.” 

The state mandates lessons, for example, on the in 1920, when a white mob killed dozens of Black citizens and ran hundreds more out of town in a violent attempt to keep them from voting. 

Many conservatives want schools to address those topics “with nuance,” Masyada said, and to connect “the promises of the founding era” to overcoming oppression and bias. 

‘Very nationalistic’

Some current examples of civics education remain too liberal for many Republicans. “We the People: Civics that Empower All Students,” a in grades four through eight, was among the programs eliminated in the U.S. Department of Education’s sweeping cancellations of teacher preparation grants last month. The program equips teachers to focus on topics like the Bill of Rights, but also encourages civic engagement. Some conservatives argue that such projects emphasize liberal causes like abortion rights or climate activism. grantees “were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies.”

The USC survey shows that the percentages of Republicans saying schools should teach the contributions of women and minorities throughout history — topics that could be construed as promoting diversity, equity and inclusion — were relatively flat or saw a small decline. Among Democrats, however, there were increases.

“Everybody likes civic education, but they like it for different reasons,” said Marcie Taylor-Thoma, director of the Maryland Council for Civic and History and a former social studies coordinator for the state. Democrats, she said, think students should learn about their civil rights and “critically analyze what’s going on in our country.” But Republicans’ view of civics is “very nationalistic” she said.

There’s little disagreement, however, over teaching students about the U.S. Constitution. Ninety-three percent of Democrats and 95% of Republicans said it’s important for any civics curriculum to cover the rights and principles outlined in the founding document. It’s that many chapters of Moms for Liberty, a conservative advocacy group, have taken up in recent years, and a Trump executive order calls for schools to recognize annually on Sept. 17.

There was scant support in the survey for students participating in protests during school hours — only 24% liked the idea — but the largest partisan split was over reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Forty-four percent of Democrats support that tradition, compared with 84% of Republicans. Debates over requiring students to recite the pledge have erupted in recent years in and .

Given the negative attitudes of many respondents toward the role schools play in preparing students for civic life, researchers thought support would be higher for a common political proving ground: student government. But less than three-fourths of respondents favor student participation in school elections, like voting for student council leaders.

That finding was unexpected, said Anna Saavedra, lead author and a research scientist at USC’s Center for Applied Research in Education.

“Having a class president is a pretty standard part of most schools,” she said. “Seeing such low support was a little surprising. It’s a way for kids to practice voting, running a platform and participating in a democratic process.”

Polikoff said it’s not surprising that there are differences of opinion over activities like requiring community service as part of classwork (73% of Republicans compared with 80% of Democrats) or honoring veterans and military service (92% of Republicans and 78% of Democrats). Local context, he said, will continue to influence how deep teachers can take classroom discussions on potentially controversial topics. 

“I don’t think that we would expect that the civics curriculum is going to look exactly the same in rural Republican Wisconsin as it’s going to look in Oakland Unified [in California],” he said. “In both places, there is room for diverse perspectives. The reality is, every classroom is purple to at least some extent.”

‘A challenge to teach’

Some educators, however, still tiptoe around topics in the news.

“It’s been a challenge to teach lately,” said Jenny Morgan, a veteran eighth grade U.S. History teacher in the West Salem, Wisconsin, district, which she described as “very, very Republican.” 

She’s tried to avoid discussing President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s makeover of the executive branch, but she did recently teach a lesson on , which Trump is charging Canada, China and Mexico.

The discussion prompted a recent debate between two students on opposite sides of the political spectrum.

“The Democratic student was trying to explain why tariffs aren’t good and talked about how prices are going to go up. The other kid was saying ‘Oh no, they won’t go up,’ ” Morgan said. “It was just an interesting conversation between the two eighth grade boys. You could tell they were getting current events at home.”

But a new book argues that the current approach remains deeply flawed. Though phonics instruction has emerged as a key component of reading lessons, stagnant NAEP scores, among other measures, suggest that something is missing — a focus on substantive knowledge, including detail-rich lessons in science and history. 

Author Natalie Wexler, whose 2019 book advocated a greater emphasis on these topics paired with explicit instruction, has said these principles are supported by cognitive science. A content-rich curriculum, she maintains, allows students to go deeper, helping information stick and building an academic foundation that allows them to write more easily, creating a kind of virtuous circle of reinforcement: The more they know, the better they can write; the better they can write, the more they can learn.

Six years later, Wexler is back with a new warning. In her book, , out Feb. 3. (pre-orders open today, Jan. 21), she says the benefits of improved reading instruction will go to waste if we don’t offer students a more vibrant, content-rich set of lessons to go along with it. 

She spoke recently with ����Ӱ��’s Greg Toppo. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

����Ӱ��: Your book The Knowledge Gap came out in 2019. A lot has happened since then, including a pandemic and an explosion of interest in the science of reading, thanks in part, to the work of folks like . Would you say we’re in a better place in the knowledge discussion than we were in 2019?

Natalie Wexler: Yes, definitely. For one thing, there are now a number of knowledge-building curricula available that were not around when I was researching the book. There are more choices than there used to be. And although we don’t have really reliable data on what curricula are really being used, all indications are that more and more districts and schools are using those knowledge-building curricula. That’s been a very promising development. It’s still a minority, but certainly more than in 2019. Emily Hanford and other science of reading advocates have done a great service to the public and to the nation’s children by shining this spotlight on things that are problematic about typical phonics instruction. The risk is that it can lead, and has led in some places, to the assumption that if we just fix the phonics part of reading instruction, everything else is going to be fine. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. 

A lot of people see the science of reading as just “more phonics.” How do you describe this more comprehensive approach?

People outside the education world assume that schools are teaching social studies and science and all of those things. I have to do a lot of explaining when I talk about how we’re not building knowledge in school effectively. With The Knowledge Gap, the publishers expected that the audience would be primarily the general public and parents. But where it’s really taken off is among educators. And it’s because it’s a lot easier, certainly for elementary level and maybe some middle school level educators, to understand the argument, because they’re living what I’m describing: There isn’t much content in the elementary curriculum, and there is a lot of emphasis on teaching reading comprehension skills, making inferences as though they were abstract skills you can teach directly and apply generally. Many of them have seen that that doesn’t really work very well. 

As I was reading your book, it reminded me of some of the conversations I’ve had with Joy Hakim, who wrote the great series, A History of US and . Her books are favorites among people who are enlightened about this topic. One of the things she says is that we’re underestimating how much our kids can understand if they’re exposed to difficult material. Is that the right word, underestimating? 

“Underestimating” is the right word, and I use that a lot myself. But you have to be careful about what we’re underestimating. It is often assumed among educators that young children won’t be interested in history or can’t handle history because it’s just too abstract, too remote from their own experience. There’s no evidence to support that. And in fact, there’s anecdotal evidence that kids can get very interested in history.

I’ve seen this myself: second graders getting fascinated by the War of 1812. But at the same time, we’ve overestimated kids’ abilities sometimes to handle certain abstractions. I open The Knowledge Gap with a teacher who’s trying to teach kids the difference between a subtitle and a caption, which is abstract but not particularly interesting to them. They don’t get it. They want to know what’s going on in the picture. What is that shark eating? But the teacher feels that it’s more important. This is what her training in the curriculum has led her to do, to focus on the abstract difference between a caption and a subtitle.

You and I have both interviewed teacher in Baltimore, and I love what he tells you: He was initially skeptical that his students would like a Dust Bowl novel, , but as the drama unfolds, they’re hooked. I wonder what that tells you, not only about the topic, but about how he was able to approach it and make it come alive.

said that you can teach almost anything to a child of any age if you do it in a way that makes sense. Those weren’t his exact words, but if you engage kids, they will get interested in all sorts of things that have nothing to do with their own experience. If you basically tell them a good story, that’s the way you can teach history, science. This is what Joy Hakim does so beautifully in her work, both in history and science: telling stories that really hook kids, and then they learn a lot, almost effortlessly, along the way. 

There’s a lot of emphasis on having kids “see themselves” in what they’re reading, which is important. But it is at least as important to expand their horizons to other realms of experience. Fiction, novels especially, are a great way to do that. As Kyair said, when they learn that the main character’s little brothers died, they care. They care about this story and these characters. There’s also some evidence to show that this is the way empathy develops, through reading fiction about lives that are very different from our own.

In Chapter 3 of the new book, you talk about teachers colleges, and note that today’s teacher educators — that is, the people working in the colleges — have been shaped by “a system that devalues knowledge and prioritizes engagement.” In a way, you can’t blame teachers for this crisis.

Absolutely. It is no individual’s fault that we are where we are. It’s a systemic problem, so it’s not going to change overnight. It’s difficult, not just for teacher educators to step out of this system, but also the teachers themselves. If you’ve been teaching in a certain way for years in the sincere belief that you are doing a great job, and someone casts doubt on that, it’s a very difficult message to take in.

What really amazes me is how many teachers, despite the painfulness of the message, are nevertheless embracing it because they really care about the success of their kids. With teacher training, it’s going to be hard to change that overnight. We’re really trying to fix a broken system with the products of that system, which is very difficult. I don’t think we can rely on teacher training to change the system. Once teachers are on the job, we also need to continue communicating this message, doing training to undo some of the training they’ve gotten pre-service. 

Historically, teachers also haven’t learned much about cognitive science. Do you get a sense that’s improving?

As I say in the book, there are efforts. is an organization that is doing great work with some institutions of teacher training, but it’s going to be very slow. There are hundreds of programs that train teachers, and just a handful are signing up to bring their curricula in line with principles of cognitive science. Even within those programs, not every teacher is on the bandwagon. You can’t really, at the university level, control what goes on in the classroom. Professors are used to having a lot of autonomy. 

Let’s talk about writing. You’re the co-author of as well. Reading your new book, it seems that writing brings together a lot of your ideas. Can you talk a bit about the importance of writing?

Since I finished writing both of those books years ago, I have continued to think more about the relationship between reading and writing and learning in general. I’ve become more and more convinced that the combination of a content-rich curriculum and explicit, manageable writing instruction embedded in that curriculum can provide all the benefits of cognitive science-informed instruction, and possibly more. Without going into a lot of detail, we have evidence that when you write about what you’re reading or what you’re learning about, it enhances your learning. It enables you to retain the information better, it enables you to understand it better, and it enables you to think about it analytically.

The problem is that writing is really difficult. We have studies, like write-to-learn studies, where they have kids write about the content that they’re learning. Overall there’s a positive effect from that. But in one meta analysis, in 18% of these studies there was . In other words, kids writing about what they were learning actually retained less of it. It’s impossible to know why. But the reason is we sometimes ask kids to just write without giving them enough support, and that is cognitively overwhelming, so they don’t get the potential learning benefits. 

So what’s the key?

The key is to make writing manageable, not cognitively overwhelming, but still requiring some effort. The best way to do that is to start at the sentence level — because if writing is hard, then writing at length is only making it harder — and explicitly teach students how to construct sentences and eventually clear linear outlines for paragraphs and essays that are embedded in the content they’re learning about. If you do that, you’re having them engage in , which we know is a very powerful boost to retention of information. You’re also having them engage in elaboration, explaining what they’re learning about, giving examples, all of that. That has been shown to really help with comprehension. You’re familiarizing them in a powerful way with the complex syntax of written language, which can be a real barrier to reading comprehension.  

You say that content-rich curricula are under fire from both sides, the left and right. I love the anecdote where you visit a small town in Ohio where this group of parents objected to the use of the words “God” and “Goddess” in a second-grade unit on Greek mythology. You note, “It’s hard to imagine how children could truly understand Greek myths or ancient Greek culture without hearing those words.” I have two questions. Number one, how do we get out from underneath this? And number two, is there a way in which this is kind of a red herring? 

This is coming not just from the right and not just from the left. The same curriculum has been attacked, sometimes, from both sides for different reasons. What we need to fundamentally do is realize that compromise is essential, and it’s got to be compromise that doesn’t interfere with kids’ ability to learn. There’s been a lot of opposition from the right to teaching about Greek myths in a curriculum called . Sometimes it’s perceived as trying to proselytize about Greek myths or other religions, Buddhism, Hinduism. When school leaders have explained to the community, “No, this isn’t an attempt to convert kids to these other religions. It’s a part of teaching them about history and other cultures,” sometimes those controversies have been defused — not in every instance.

Another thing to bear in mind, though, is that sometimes the people who are protesting are not representative. They’re maybe a small but very vocal group of parents. You have to ask: Does it really make sense to deprive all students of exposure to some valuable information because a small group is protesting? Maybe there’s another way to handle it, some alternative texts or something for those kids. But fundamentally, everybody needs to realize that the curriculum is not going to align with your individual preferences about what you would like your kids to learn. And we have to find consensus. There’s more consensus than there appears to be, which kind of gets to your second question: The media have kind of elevated these conflicts. In many instances, there isn’t that much conflict.

Is there anything you see in the landscape that gives you hope that we are moving in the right direction?

For one thing, I have gotten many invitations to speak recently. The interest in this, at least from my limited personal perspective, is not dying down. It’s only growing. And that’s encouraging. There are other people taking up this message. I’m seeing the beginnings of a recognition that phonics instruction is important, but we may be overdoing it with all of the focus on it in some places — the one generalization you can make about American education is you can’t generalize, because who knows what’s really going on?

But in some places, schools are spending an hour a day on phonics and giving short shrift to some of these other important components of reading, like building knowledge. That really relates to reading comprehension. Even some of the people who have been in the forefront of the science of reading movement, like , have been saying this: Let’s not overdo it, because there’s an opportunity cost, and one of those opportunities that’s being lost is the chance to build a kind of knowledge that kids will need to read and understand the texts they’ll be expected to read in years to come.

Since January 2021, states have introduced bills and at least 18 have passed laws restricting or banning the teaching of supposed critical race theory. Just states (Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington) have Black history mandates for K-12 public schools. In addition,  , , and have legislated Black history courses or electives during the last two years. But several of the 12 states have new laws on the books that limit their curriculum. 

The Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education at the University at Buffalo has been tracking which states have Black history mandates. The director of the center, LaGarrett King, said it’s important for him and his team to hold teachers and school districts accountable by tracking which states are not only implementing Black history curriculum but actually teaching the lessons.

“If we look at the history of Black history education, whenever there is some form of social or racial strife within society, there’s always this connection to increasing Black history in public schools,” King said. “You saw that right after the Civil War and after Reconstruction, during the late 19th century. You saw that as well during the lynching era in the early 20th century. You saw that in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, and more recently, you saw that during the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Even so, King says that in nearly half of the 12 (Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina), the mandates just seem symbolic, using Florida as an example of a state that has a Black history requirement but new policies that contradict it. Its “Stop W.O.K.E. law” restricts how race and gender are discussed in public schools and prohibits teachers from making students “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex or national origin.” 

A prominent component of teaching Black history “is the concept of questioning systematic power and oppression, because that’s part of the Black experience in the United States,” King said. “And if you have laws that say, ‘Hey, you can’t talk about systemic racism, whiteness or concepts that say racism is permanent in our society,’ then I think you’re doing the actual concept of Black history wrong… If your Black history is simply about celebrating heroes, well, here’s the thing: Why are these particular people considered heroes?”

In August, the Florida legislature came under fire after a right-wing nonprofit organization called PragerU created a depicting an animated Frederick Douglass referring to slavery as a “compromise” between the Founding Fathers and Southern states. The video was meant to be shown in K-12 schools and was paid for with state funds.

In Delaware, a for K-12 districts and charter schools to teach Black history went into effect this school year, but educators may not be ready. Deangello Eley, assistant principal of Appoquinimink High School, told that many teachers are “concerned they don’t yet have the tools for these conversations.” Eley believes it will take closer to five years for Black history lessons to be fully implemented.

Some places, though, are doing it right, King said. He pointed to New Jersey and to cities such as Philadelphia and Buffalo as examples of school systems that are working to protect and expand their coverage of Black history.

Though Pennsylvania doesn’t have a K-12 Black history mandate, Philadelphia does, and King said he views it as exemplary both in policy and practice. One of Philadelphia’s biggest priorities is ensuring that teachers have adequate training and resources. The district also prioritizes exposing students to Black history lessons that aren’t typically covered in schools and making sure they can apply these concepts to modern issues.

In 2005, Philadelphia became the first city in the United States to require every high schooler to take an African American history class to graduate. Part of the law included integrating African-American history into all K-12 curricula. 

Ismael Jimenez is the district’s first director of social studies curriculum in nine years. Since stepping into his role last year, he has led a team of three in developing best practices and guidelines for teachers. Though Philadelphia did away with its mandated annual teacher training in social studies a few years ago, Jimenez has instituted a special training just for African-American history teachers called the Africana Studies Lecture and Workshop Series. Teachers are paid to attend these workshops several weekends throughout the year. Scholars and community activists are invited. The district also works with educational departments at cultural heritage museums to offer additional professional development for teachers.

Jimenez and his team have been revitalizing the curriculum, which hasn’t been significantly updated in a decade. They aim to step away from relying on textbooks and are building the curriculum from the ground up themselves. 

Kindergartners begin learning basic social studies concepts like what is a community. Starting in first grade, students are introduced to Black history topics such as the meaning of flags, Marcus Garvey and the creation and purpose of the Pan-African flag. Throughout second and third grade, students are taught about other prominent Black figures throughout world history. In fourth grade, topics include enslavement and the riches that it brought Europeans in the Americas. Those lessons continue through fifth grade.

For the first two years of middle school, the focus is Black history outside the U.S. Sixth graders learn about civilizations in Asia and Africa, such as the Kemet in ancient Egypt, and seventh graders study the role of the Spanish in slave trades in the Western world. Jimenez said the goal is to take the emphasis off Europeans in Western studies, spending only a quarter of the year on ancient civilizations like Greece and Rome and focusing instead on North America and Latin America for half of the year. In eighth grade, the curriculum returns to United States history and includes colonialism and the Civil War.

Students are encouraged to focus less on essay writing and multiple-choice tests and more on what the district calls authentic performance tasks to show their knowledge of course material in creative ways, such as conducting mock trials, writing letters to museums inquiring how they obtained certain African artifacts and contacting school districts and companies that make maps to ask about biases and racism in their creation.

“There’s a short video in ninth-grade American U.S. history talking about redlining, and there’s another one about talking about the riots in Miami in the 1980s,” Jimenez said. “These little clips allow students to kind of access [curriculum] visually.” Ninth graders also learn about the creation of the interstate highway system and suburbanization. “We go over how this identity of middle class was tied to whiteness at the exclusion of black people in America.”

In 10th grade, students complete the required African-American history course needed to graduate. The following school year, the curriculum centers on world history, with a large focus on the transatlantic slave trade. In 12th grade, students learn civics and economics, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, affirmative action and current politics.

“If we’re not engaging in these conversations related to multi-prospectivity and dialectical thinking involving marginalized and historically excluded voices into the conversation, then by default, the teacher is indoctrinating the students because the teacher isn’t allowing them the ability to challenge what they’re being taught,” Jimenez said.

“That’s one thing here that we’re going out of our way to try to make sure is not happening. We’re going to bring up these things that you’ve never heard of that we find interesting and other folks find interesting, but then we’re going to bring in the multiple perspectives related to interpreting it and have dialogue and structured activities around it to really go into the depths.”

Ohio legislators on both sides of the aisle are hoping to change how students learn about things like government affairs and history.

On one side, Democrats and supporters presented their argument for changing the model curriculum for K-12 social studies in a Tuesday press conference, with members of education associations and minority advocacy groups pushing for ‘s passage.

That bill would direct the Ohio State Board of Education to “update” the social studies lessons in the state by July 1, 2024, to include “age and grade-appropriate instruction in the migration journeys, experiences and societal contributions of a range of communities in Ohio and the United States.”

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Those communities would include African American; Asian American and Pacific Islander; Arab, African and North African immigrant, refugee and asylee; Appalachian; Jewish; Latin American; and Native American communities, according to the bill.

“This bill not only positively benefits students, but also the state as a whole,” said Saanvi Gattu, a student at Olentangy High School.

As someone who emigrated from Mexico when she was an 8-year-old, Linna Jordan said she understands what inclusion means for students.

“It really is important for children to see themselves in their learning,” Jordan said.

Jordan is now the president of the Hilliard Education Association, and said including the stories of all communities who call America and Ohio home is “the most responsible thing we can do as a state.”

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mary Lightbody, D-Westerville, also has the support of the Council on American Islamic Relation’s Ohio Chapter, the Ohio Education Association and its Hispanic Caucus, Ohio Progressive Asian Woman’s Leadership and the Black Led Organizing Collaborative (BLOC).

A Republican-led bill that’s already seen committee activity since being introduced in March is , which seeks to create a “social studies task force” to develop academic standards for K-12 social studies.

Those studies have a specific model in HB 103, however, with the bill specifically targeting standards presented in “American Birthright: The Civics Alliance’s Model K-12 Social Studies Standards.”

The Civics Alliance is a New York-based group which states in its mission statement preceding “American Birthright” that it is “dedicated to preserving and improving America’s civics education and preventing the subornation of civics education to political recruitment tools.”

HB 103’s co-sponsor, state Rep. Don Jones, R-Freeport, is listed as a state policymaker for the American Birthright Coalition.

The standards pushed by the Civics Alliance encourage student instruction that teaches “America’s common language of liberty, patriotism and national memory,” and not a social studies “filled with animus against their ancestors and their fellow Americans, and estranged from their country,” according to the

“The warping of American social studies instruction has created a corps of activists dedicated to the overthrow of America and its freedoms, larger numbers of Americans indifferent to the steady whittling away of American liberty and many more who are so ignorant of the past they cannot use our heritage of freedom to judge contemporary debates,” the alliance states in “American Birthright.”

The Ohio bill is supported by conservative groups like the America First Policy Institute, as well as the Common Sense Society and the Freedom Education Foundation, Inc.

In a recent hearing for HB 103 with the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee, the American Historical Association expressed “grave concern” about using the product as part of state curriculum, calling the idea of a “politically appointed task force” unnecessary.

“Few Ohioans will agree with the premise that the state needs more bureaucracy,” the AHA told the committee. “Fewer still are likely to support the idea that yet another board with an unambiguously political mandate would streamline the already complicated process of crafting education policy.”

The AHA said singling out the American Birthright model would “hobble students” with a “pleasant fantasy” of history such as colonization by European empires “without ever meaningfully engaging with any evidence to the contrary.”

“These standards are not the product of an evidence-based study; they are merely a risky, untested document that, if they were adopted, would impose wrenching opportunity costs on Ohio students, parents, teachers and schools,” the group stated in committee testimony.

The bill is also opposed by the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the Ohio Education Association, Public Education Partners, the Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio, and the Ohio Council for the Social Studies.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

The South Dakota Board of Education Standards will hold its second meeting since revealing the revised social studies standards that drew controversy again this summer.

A day before the official deadline to register or submit public comments, the Board from teachers, school board members, parents, school administrators and more. The Monday opposing the proposed social studies standards as well.

The standards originally drew criticism in 2021 after the state in the first draft. Gov. Kristi Noem ordered the standards revision process to restart in 2022.

The DOE released its revised standards in August, but quickly drew criticism again after the South Dakota Education Association said that the standards discourage inquiry-based learning and emphasize rote memorization, adding that Native American history and South Dakota history are “afterthoughts or lumped in with other standards.”

“They wildly deviate from current social studies standards and will upend the curriculum for every teacher, every classroom and every school,” shortly after the revised standards were released. “The proposed standards are too time specific and only focus on events from 1492 to 2008 raising many questions about how teachers would approach teaching current events.”

An found that the 2015 standards are less specific than the detailed 2022 document, which is nearly twice as long, among other notable differences.

The revised standards are “politicized,” said Tim Graf, superintendent of the Harrisburg School District — one of South Dakota’s fastest growing school districts. The changes involved a 15-member committee and , according to the Associated Press. Of the three educators on the committee, all three opposed the revised standards, Graf added.

Graf won’t be making public comments at Monday’s meeting, since he already took a personal day in September to drive three hours to Aberdeen and make public comments at the first Board revision meeting. His public comments were short but focused on his concern for the future of South Dakota public education with the state government involving itself in picking standards and curriculum.

“This concerns me greatly about what the future of public education is if this just becomes a political football for any future curriculum and options,” Graf told South Dakota Searchlight on Thursday.

The Board normally approves and is involved in curriculum and standards for public education across the state. But not to this degree of interference and control.

This is far bigger than just social studies standards.

“I believe this is just another example of South Dakota taking its teachers for granted and not respecting the work they do as professionals,” Graf said. “What concerns me is if we lose teachers over this … There is nothing more important than having a great teacher in classrooms and we’re having more and more trouble being able to fill our classrooms with teachers. This will exacerbate those concerns further.”

Another Harrisburg School District representative and a Harrisburg School Board member plan to make public comments on Monday. Graf encourages parents of South Dakota students to read through the revisions themselves.

The South Dakota Board of Education Standards’ will take place Monday at 9 a.m. at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, where board members will hear public comments on the issue.

The BOE’s first public meeting on the revision was held in Aberdeen and included 707 written public comments ahead of the meeting, with the majority opposed to the standards and only 67 proponents.

People interested in presenting in-person or remote public comment must register with the Department of Education by 2 p.m. on Nov. 18 by emailing Ferne.Haddock@state.sd.us. Those interested in submitting written comments must do so online or by end-of-day Nov. 18.

Opponents and proponents will each receive 90 minutes for public comment. With 35 opponents who were signed up to speak in Aberdeen in September, only 27 of them fit into the 90-minute section.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on and .

The founders of the United States were , a movement centered on . This new approach to defining a country – rather than basing it on language, ethnicity or geographic proximity – meant the new United States would have to educate its citizenry with the ideas, skills and values necessary to build and grow their democracy.

As a result, the founders and funded. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and others believed it was the to provide that education. Jefferson believed that education would and redress the effect of poverty because education would be available to all children.

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Though public schools did not become widespread , the goal of educating informed citizens capable of inquiry and critical thinking was part of the democratic republic from the start. But nearly 250 years after the nation’s founding, its schools struggle to achieve that goal.

A fourth basic subject

Foundational American educational theorist , who worked and wrote in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, promoted education that would help build and maintain a democracy made up of different groups of people. In his 1916 book “,” he warned that focusing education only on the “.”

It is no accident that Dewey’s career in educational philosophy coincided with the rise of a new field of education, , aimed at cultivating good citizenship to build a stronger American society.

, the term was used by the National Education Association to “designate formal citizenship education and [place] squarely in the field all of those subjects that were believed to contribute to that end.”

That purpose remains today. According to the National Council of the Social Studies, the current goal of “is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.”

But since at least the 1980s, the nation’s public schools have consistently put social studies on the . This process accelerated with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which on the “three Rs,” to the .

A 2010 study demonstrated the when it reported that elementary school teachers spent , 11.6 hours on Language Arts, and 5.3 hours on math per week.

A lower priority

As a , I have noticed that social studies is than reading, writing and math in .

For instance, from 1993 to 2008, the time allotted to social studies instruction in third through fifth grade classes in the U.S. Over the same time, math, English and language arts instruction increased. This trend continued, with a 2014 study that documented an “ time per week.”

This reduction in social studies instruction has affected minority students more than others. Federal statistics show that since at least 1998, on tests of civics knowledge .

One study described how that this civic education gap contributes to a , in which poorer people and those from nonwhite ethnic groups vote less. That study declared the gap “challenges the stability, legitimacy, and quality of our democratic republic.” Those comments echo those of Jefferson and Dewey, who believed that the purpose of schools was to prepare children to be citizens.

There was a need for civic education in their time – and the complexity of modern society and the increasingly obvious fragility of U.S. constitutional government indicate that social studies is more relevant and more vital now than ever before.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

A graduate of the Cleveland-area school where he’s taught for 25 years, Russell still works to pull together an annual basketball tournament and festival in Oberlin — the experience that convinced him it was a “joy” to work with high school students. 

“He just commands the best out of you when you’re tired and you feel like you can’t do anymore,” said senior Caleb Peterson, who has had “Russ” as a teacher every year since ninth grade and is taking three of his courses this year. He also played basketball freshman and sophomore year. “The lessons he’s taught me on the court or in the classroom will stick in my heart.”

On Tuesday, the Council of Chief State School Officers named Russell the 2022 National Teacher of the Year. Students and staff, wearing the school’s red, white and blue colors, gathered early at the school for a watch party. When the announcement came, just after 8 a.m Eastern on , “the whole auditorium lit up,” Peterson said.

Teaching American history with a focus on the Black experience — at a time of intense national scrutiny over how educators discuss race and discrimination — the veteran educator plans to focus his year as the nation’s top teacher on breaking down barriers in education.

 “I would like to focus on diversity and making sure students receive a well-rounded educational experience,” said Russell, adding that he’ll advocate for girls to pursue STEM fields and more men teaching in the early grades.

He was inspired to go into education when he had a Black male teacher, Larry Thomas, for eighth grade math. “Culturally I could relate to him,” Russell said. “ His family migrated from the South. My family migrated from the South. Some of the discussion I had in class was personal to me.”

Russell turned that connection to his cultural roots into a career, teaching U.S. History and electives on race, oppression and Black music that are among the school’s most popular courses. When he’s teaching, his booming voice carries down the hallways. 

“He puts his entire heart into his students and they are very engaged in his lesson,” said Denita Tolbert-Brown, a business teacher at the school who has worked with Russell for 24 years. 

Peterson, who is weighing offers from Temple University in Philadelphia and Clark Atlanta University, said even though reading doesn’t “grasp” him like it used to, Russell has sparked his interest in books about racial history.

“No matter what I end up doing, I want to have the same impact,” he said about his favorite teacher and former coach. “I want to try to be like him and excel and inspire people.”

Russell feels fortunate that he’s been able to work in a “progressive” district where he hasn’t faced backlash from the community over teaching about racial and gender discrimination. Parents, he said, have been “accepting.” That’s in contrast to Republican lawmakers in his state, who have introduced three bills to restrict lessons on so-called “divisive” topics. would also limit references to gender identity and sexual orientation.

Even so, broader opposition, combined with the impact of the pandemic, has left many colleagues feeling worn down.

“For me, it’s just the idea of respect,” he said. “If someone visits a doctor and the doctor prescribes the medication, we don’t think twice about that. In education, teachers are not trusted. Politicians are telling teachers what we can or can’t teach.”

CCSSO’s choice of Russell as the winner “does bring a perspective that could add to the conversation both in Ohio and across the country,” said Anton Schulzki, president of the National Council for the Social Studies. “But that will be up to him to decide how to use his voice.”

Bills like those proposed in Ohio are “scaring” people out of the profession, said Jeff Wensing, vice president of the Ohio Education Association.

“We are looking at a time where students are really not considering the education profession,” he said, adding that Russell’s most important contribution over the next year could be to spark interest in the education field among young Black men. “We need more teachers of color. Students need to see people like themselves standing in front of them as educators.” 

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Such efforts raise questions about whether students in the U.S. will ever be able to engage in free and meaningful discussions about the history of slavery in America and the effect it had on the nation.

As , we see a potential venue for these kinds of discussions that we believe to be an overlooked and poorly used resource: plantation museums.

If slavery is, as , “ground zero for race relations,” then the hundreds of plantation museums that dot the southeastern U.S. landscape seem like to confront the difficult history of America’s slave-owning past.

Exploring that possibility is one of the reasons why — along with fellow , , and — we received a to .

We think these plantation museums could be important sites for an educational with this difficult aspect of America’s past. But that’s only if the people who run these museums are committed to telling the truth about what took place, rather than perpetuating . This is particularly important as policymakers seek to curtail discussions about racism – or even – in America’s K-12 schools and colleges and universities.

Usages of these sites have traditionally life before the Civil War and . They have also downplayed the resistance and resilience of enslaved communities, thus preventing the nation from getting a fuller and more accurate picture of American slavery.

Reforms needed

In order to make better use of plantation museums as places to learn about racism and slavery, the museums must be reformed in a major way and do more than just . Rather, this reform demands a reworking of almost every facet of the museum – from misguided tours that gloss over the harsh living conditions of the enslaved to artifacts and marketing materials that emphasize the opulent and picturesque mansions that belie the horrors of what took place on the surrounding grounds. In , we discovered plantation museums where 50% of the tours never mentioned slavery. Our work provides practical guidance to the changes that need to happen.

Problematic places of learning

Within the United States, there are at least 375 plantations open for public tours scattered across 19 states. Based on nearly 2,000 surveys our research team conducted, visitors have indicated that they go to plantations to “learn about history.” The general public considers historical sites, such as plantation museums, to be . Therefore, they deserve to be held accountable for the educational experience they provide.

School field trips are an important revenue source for these often .

At Shirley Plantation in Virginia, field trips . At Meadow Farm, near Richmond, Virginia, . At Boone Hall in South Carolina, visit the site annually.

Whitewashing of history

At one Virginia plantation museum, we observed school children go on where they take on the roles of white slave owners. In one case, the children deliver a message between the white slave owner’s son – a Confederate soldier – and his sick mother while their plantation was occupied by Union troops. This, we believe, leads the children to identify and empathize with the white slave-owning family as opposed to the individuals they enslaved.

Toward reparative education

calls for plantation museums to engage in a more form of education. This education would come to terms with the injustices of the past and in the present, which in turn harms and .

Repairing these historical fallacies is not just about getting the facts correct about the enslaved and the enslavers. It also requires the public to about how slavery is a source of pain and tension in America. Lessons should show how this tension continues to impact . Often to construct buildings, roads, ports and rail lines we use in America.

found that many plantation museums were reluctant to highlight Black lives and histories. But there is promising evidence of change at sites like McLeod Plantation on James Island in Charleston, South Carolina, which opened in 2015, less than a year after the more well-known in Louisiana.

We see both museums – Whitney and McLeod – as exceptional in plantation tourism. Combined, our research found these two sites attract a more racially diverse visitorship than many other plantations because of the inclusive stories being told. Our surveys with visitors suggest public interest in the topic of slavery increased after taking guided tours that focused on the experiences of enslaved communities. In our view, this is a needed counterpoint to of some visitors pushing back against hearing these sober discussions. For instance, tour guides at McLeod reported white visitors yelling at them, claiming the tour their ancestors.

Both of these plantations represent a new way of educating the public about the realities of slavery. Here are three things that stood out during our assessment of the Whitney and McLeod plantations.

1. They incorporate slavery and the lives of the enslaved throughout the tour

We think it’s important to feature slavery and the lives of the enslaved and not keep it separate in a special exhibit.

Visitors should be given an opportunity to make thoughtful connections to those who were once enslaved by learning names and details about their lives. At Whitney, for example, visitors are encouraged to make emotional connections. One way they do this is by receiving a lanyard at the start of the tour that features the words and image of a formerly enslaved child.

2. They provide visitors a space to contemplate

We know the plantation can be an especially fraught and emotional experience, . During our fieldwork, Black visitors would often describe the land as sacred and a powerful place to . Some of these plantations have even hosted . Whitney Plantation provides opportunities for visitor reflection and contemplation throughout the tour, such as benches near a wall that memorializes and honors all of the people who were enslaved there.

3. Tour guides were well prepared

McLeod’s management purposely hired guides who would disrupt romantic notions of the plantation and engage meaningfully with themes of slavery, race and social justice. They also to guides doing the of challenging or complicating long-held plantation myths.

Managers at McLeod acknowledged the stress experienced by their tour guides when they focused on enslavement and its aftermath. They took extra steps to ensure that their guides were supported by initiating a “golden hour.” This was a time for staff to come together and reflect on difficult encounters with the visitors, who sometimes challenged guides’ historical knowledge and fairness. It was also a time for the guides to develop strategies to cope with the of the hostility they faced while doing their jobs.

, Associate Professor of Geography, and , Professor of Geography,

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Nikkolas Smith is not surprised by the book bans and culture of fear dominating schools in his home state of Texas.

If anything, recent events make his work as a children’s book illustrator and self-described “artivist” more urgent.

“I’m gonna keep making books that will probably be on banned lists… because all they do is tell the truth about history. And it’s just ridiculous that accurate history is trying to be suppressed, basically, by those in power who have benefited from racism for centuries,” said Smith, who collaborated with Nikole Hannah-Jones to illustrate The 1619 Project for children. 

Growing up in Houston, he was taught to celebrate the tales of Davey Crockett and the Alamo — “whitewashed” stories “always from one perspective:” glorifying those who owned and killed other human beings, he told ����Ӱ��.

Now, alongside the words of Hannah-Jones and children’s book author Renée Watson, Smith’s art flips the script to teach young readers the legacy of slavery rooted in humanity; a Black history rooted in joy. 

In Born on the Water, the to The 1619 Project, Smith’s paintings bring the cultures of West Africans to life, showing the pre-enslavement history often omitted from classrooms.

“One of the things that me and Nikole talk about is there’s so much rich history, and culture, and so much joy in these tribes and these people that were stolen from their land,” Smith told ����Ӱ��. “You really have to understand all of that to understand how heavy it was, and how tragic it was… We really just wanted to show that life.”

From his plant-filled Los Angeles home, Smith paired Hannah-Jones and Watson’s poetry with family traditions, beautiful hair, dances, imagery that evoked death and spirits. Using a digital , his illustrations began as monochrome shapes and skeletons in Photoshop, impressions of how he felt after reading and internalizing their verses. 

The book hit shelves last fall amid a wave of proposed state laws aimed at preventing students from learning a mythical “critical race theory” and “divisive concepts.” In , legislation attempted to ban the 1619 Project explicitly. So far, Florida has succeeded.  

While a vocal minority of lawmakers and parents believe school aged children are too young to grapple with just how violence against Black people was intrinsic to the nation’s founding, many for the content. Born on the Water topped bestseller lists as families headed into 2022, looking for ways to talk to children about the country they’ll inherit. 

Smith’s artistic approach seemed a natural fit. In digital paintings, he added layer after layer of color and symbols — clouds modeled after picked cotton, the shape of a person sinking underwater, or a green toy tied to a tree, the only sign of life left after colonizers stole a tribe — to convey anger and fear in ways young readers could feel without being traumatized by explicit violence.

Long-inspired by Nina Simone “,” he’d balanced trauma and life in children’s illustrations for years, painting Tamir Rice, Elijah McClain and others killed by police. 

His second book, , explored the internalized hatred young Black children develop from racism and microaggressions. 

Through , which he describes as “art as therapy”, he tries to help himself and viewers heal “the broken bones of society.” 

“For them to say, we have a book about the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, and all of these very heavy things that we as Black people in America, we think about it all the time … I felt like that’s one of the biggest broken bones in America,” he said.

“…Remember that these weren’t slaves that were taken, these were brilliant people, and they did some amazing things … They knew how to design and build cities, they built this country, and that’s why they were stolen, because they were brilliant and good at what they do. We just want to remind people of that, and also how much they fought and resisted and got their freedom back.”

“And [for] the young folks who are not Black, there’s no shame in anything we’re saying. We want people to grow up having an accurate understanding of what happened in this country. I feel like it’s really not until we address all of these things openly and honestly that we’re gonna really grow and move forward as a nation.”
—Nikkolas Smith

Smith blurred linear understandings of time by using symbols across generations, to help young readers understand that “[ancestors’] vision of the future, their wildest dreams are now embodied in us — [we’re] having to take that mantle and move forward.” 

And in faces, Smith balanced the world of feelings bound up in the Black experience: from shame, when the protagonist cannot make a family tree beyond three generations, to pride, after her grandmother recounts the rich history of tribes pre-enslavement. Her hair, in Bantu knots, and clothing give reference to past generations.

Ultimately, Smith hopes his work can help the next generation of Black youth have a sense of pride. Over the next few months, he’ll paint scenes of Ruby Bridges, the first young person to integrate a Southern school in 1960. And next year, he’ll collaborate with celebrated author Timeka Fryer Brown on a picture book about the Confederate flag. 

He expects both will end up on some banned lists.   

“All we can do is keep putting the truth out there,” Smith said, “and it’ll get into the right hands.”

All paintings are illustrated by Nikkolas Smith for Born on the Water, a publication of Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. 

The social studies standards are guidelines for the content and timeline of what history is taught in public schools. Louisiana’s social studies standards are supposed to be reviewed and revised every seven years but haven’t been updated since 2010-2011, meaning the state is three years overdue.

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Revisions have been significantly tied to conservative concerns about critical race theory that have swept the country. Its opponents have sought to limit discussions of racism and equality in the classroom setting.

Brumley said he defines critical race theory as teaching in a way that “everything must be viewed from the lens of race.”

A team at the Louisiana Department of Education, including Brumley, worked on revising the standards following public feedback. The superintendent called the latest version of the standards “a freedom framework.”

“I feel like these standards represent the desire for freedom in our country,” Brumley said. “I think these standards tell the whole and truthful story of our country, but also capture the fact that we live in the greatest country on the face of the earth.”

Louisiana high school students will learn American history from 1607 to 2008, world history from 1300 to 2010 as well as world geography.

“When we’re talking about the Declaration of Independence (or the Constitution or liberty), that’s something that we want our students to hear multiple times over their career,” Brumley said. “These are ideas that we want them to hear multiple times over their K-12 experience.”

The next step for the standards involves a review before the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. In December, BESE pushed back its deadline for approving for the second time.

At the time, Brumley told the board the delay was necessary because of the sheer number of public comments the education department received on the proposed standards. Many complained they allowed .

Louisiana K-12 teachers and parents will have another chance to provide feedback on the updated social studies curriculum standards through Feb. 22 .

BESE will vote on the proposal in March. If approved, the standards will be implemented by the 2023-24 school year.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jarvis DeBerry for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on and .

Instead of telling students what happened at the Capitol, educators are asking them to conduct their own investigations using credible news sources and critical thinking to shape their perceptions.

Part of the effort reflects teachers’ desire to improve news literacy. And part of it reflects their apprehension about anti-critical race theory legislation passed in several states in 2020 taking aim at the teaching of systemic racism.

While riot organizers said they were protesting an illegitimate election, President Biden and others have called out — a topic that could run afoul of anti-CRT laws — as central to the attack.

Teachers, historians, news literacy and civil rights advocates say students must learn the truth about the day’s events but that this is a particularly difficult time to address the topic as the nation remains deeply divided on social and political issues. Many conservatives around the country have redirected their outrage around these matters to their local school boards, demanding, in sometimes raucous meetings, greater control of what and how children are taught.

Brian Winkel, an English and journalism teacher in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is still navigating the anti-CRT law in his state, saying the wording “is vague enough to make it scary.” If it was meant to have a chilling effect on the teaching of race-related topics, it’s working, he said.

“It’s brand new and I know some people are questioning things they can talk about, including the Japanese Americans detained in WWII, the treatment of Native Americans and what happened in Tulsa,” Winkel said, referring to the 1921 race massacre. “It’s very hard to dance around those topics.”

He and his students were already discussing the validity of the 2020 election when the insurrection occurred last year: Winkel had them examine arguments on both sides and look closely at their sources.

“When you get right down to it, it was the Big Lie,” he said. “I didn’t have anyone who didn’t see that, as I remember: I think kids were able to see when you built out the evidence that there was nothing to stand on.”

This year, he’ll pose a slightly different question playing off asking students whether the insurrection was peaceful or violent: They’ll have to share their opinion based on two credible sources.

Despite brutal assaults on Capitol Police among numerous other acts and threats caught on camera, just 4 in 10 Republicans called the insurrection “very violent” or “extremely violent” according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research results released Jan. 4.

Winkel said he is careful not to share his own views on these issues.

“I try to get kids to be clueless about what side of the political line I’m on by the time they are done with this class,” he said.

The teacher said he hasn’t avoided controversial issues to stave criticism from parents, but remains concerned and confused about one area.

“Race is a timely topic in this country,” he said. “We have had lots and lots of horrible incidents to deconstruct. But when it comes to institutional racism, I am still trying to wrap my mind around what can be said. So, I have played it safe. The last thing we want to do with this class is to indoctrinate.”

Peter Adams is senior vice president of education for the a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan national education nonprofit aimed at teaching students to be savvy and active news consumers.

Adams said teachers are in a tough position when it comes to the insurrection: Even mainstream news coverage is considered off-limits in some circles. His organization provides educators with many resources to help them address these issues, but “they are hesitant to bring them into the classroom for fear of sparking controversy and parent backlash if they tackle a rumor that should be a settled matter of fact,” including proper COVID-19 precautions and the legitimacy of the 2020 election, he said.

“In general, my advice to educators is to approach the topic of misinformation and falsehoods from the idea that mis- and dis- information is fundamentally exploitative: They play on a given audience’s deepest beliefs and values and exploit them for political gain,” Adams said. “If you were a supporter of President Trump in 2020, falsehoods about the election are seeking to exploit that and use it against you and not help your politics, causes, beliefs or values — but to weaponize them.”

Monita Bell, associate director of the program, which aims to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, said students should know the events of Jan. 6 are not anomalous.

“The progress of our nation is not linear,” she said. “In fact, it is often recursive. Jan. 6 is probably the most recent example of the backlash that often comes from progress, and ensuring students understand this not only gives them a better grounding of our history, but also their place in it.”

Anton Schulzki, social studies teacher at General William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, began a one-year term as president of the on July 1. He and his class — the school was mostly remote last winter — were studying civil rights-themed music when the insurrection occurred. Schulzki tossed his lesson plan for the day and shared his computer screen with his students as they tried to make sense of what was unfolding.

“We were just shaking our heads, asking, ‘What the heck is going on?’” he recalled. “At that point, we didn’t know — and we are still finding out.”

Schulzki plans to ask his students where they were when those events unfolded a year ago and what they make of them today. While he wishes all teachers could discuss these issues freely, he’s well aware of those who plan to bypass the topic for fear they will lose their jobs if they discuss such controversial matters. An experienced educator with a robust track record, he’s confident in tackling tough subjects but understands not all teachers feel the same.

“I can do certain things compared to a first-year teacher in a small town …where everybody knows everybody,” he said. “It varies across the country.”

James Grossman is the executive director of the , an organization founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress five years later for the promotion of historical studies. He said his group is currently crafting resources for those teachers struggling to teach these topics in anti-CRT states.

Grossman supports what educators say they’re already doing, which he described as working from evidence to “help students see how there can be different angles of vision on such issues.”

But, he said, that doesn’t mean all narratives are equal.  

“Part of the purpose of history education is to help students learn to read evidence generated from diverse sources and piece together stories that are consistent with that evidence and answer useful and meaningful questions,” he said, adding it’s imperative for them to understand what happened Jan. 6.

If teachers don’t discuss controversial historical issues, he said, students won’t learn all they need to know to be constructive and responsible members of their communities.

“This includes all sorts of communities, including workplaces and families, as well as geographically and politically defined entities,” he said. “Why would we want a population of people who don’t know our history? Why would we want to hide useful knowledge? If teachers back away from these topics we are at risk of losing the informed citizenry upon which democracy depends.”

“We’re not extinct,” the young student ventured, nervous about contradicting the lesson, but feeling she had to speak up. “I’m a Narragansett.”

No response came from her teacher or classmates, recalls the Chariho Regional School District alum, who graduated in 1986.

“It just didn’t matter,” she told ����Ӱ��. “You were insignificant.”

Now, decades later, Baker has two children in the same school system who have navigated similar experiences of hurt and invisibility. Sometimes, the racism has been overt, like when a classmate muttered the N-word at her daughter in middle school. But more often, it comes in the form of quiet erasure and inaccurate tropes.

“In history class, it’s mostly the history of the colonizers,” said her daughter Nittaunis Baker, 19, who graduated from Chariho High School in spring 2021 and now attends the University of Rhode Island. 

“We didn’t really talk about Native people that much,” she told ����Ӱ��.

Even now, as the topic of how to teach U.S. history in schools is receiving an unprecedented level of public attention, Indigenous parents say the debates still largely exclude lessons on Native people. 

“It’s [been] very Black/white centric,” said Samantha Cullen-Fry, a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe who has two young children in the West Warwick School District. She agrees that highlighting the Black experience is important, especially in wake of the police murder of George Floyd. But efforts to diversify K-12 curricula are incomplete, she says, if they fail to accurately teach about Native people. 

When English colonists first came to New England in the 17th century, the Narragansett people had been living in the region for some 30,000 years — making the vast majority of North American history, chronologically speaking, Indigenous history. In the following centuries, Native people have continued to live in the region.

“There is no United States history, there is no Rhode Island history, without Indigenous history,” the West Warwick mother told ����Ӱ��.

Across the country, fights over critical race theory have elevated conversations over social studies curricula to the central stage in many . CRT is not an ideology, but rather a scholarly framework that views racism and inequality as ingrained in law and society. Still, in Oklahoma, a bill to restrict its teaching led to the removal of classic books such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Raisin in the Sun from reading lists, according to a recent ACLU lawsuit. In Texas, the crackdown prompted a school administrator to . 

The Ocean State has emerged as a hotbed for the controversy. Over the summer, a South Kingstown mother made national headlines for filing more than investigating if the district taught terms like “systemic racism,” “white privilege” or the “1619 Project.” Education writer Erika Sanzi, a former Rhode Island teacher and school board member, has become and other curricular changes her group, Parents Defending Education, see as divisive.

And although Rhode Island was not one of the to enact laws restricting teaching on race and gender, a bill to do so was introduced by state legislators in spring 2021, though it failed to pass.

Its author, Rep. Patricia Morgan, did not respond to questions from ����Ӱ�� asking whether topics such as the , which took place just miles outside the Chariho school system’s present day boundaries, would be among the “” that the bill sought to ban. In the event, 1,000 English colonial soldiers, joined by about 150 Pequot and Mohegan soldiers, attacked and burned a Narragansett stronghold, killing hundreds, including women and children. In late October, the Rhode Island Historical Society transferred the 5-acre South Kingstown site back to the Narragansett Indian Tribe, nearly three and half centuries after the deadly event.

In Chariho schools, where more than 9 in 10 students are white, alumni of the district who are Indigenous and graduated in recent decades have recounted experiences of being by their counselors. In nearby Narragansett Regional School District, Cullen-Fry had to spend a post-grad year doing unnecessary pre-college work, she said, because her counselor did not send in her paperwork, assuming she couldn’t afford higher education. The experience, she learned later at a high school reunion, was shared by numerous peers of color.

Chariho Assistant Superintendent Michael Comella said he was not aware of Indigenous students having had issues with the district’s college counselors in the past, but mentioned that the school system is working with local Narragansett leaders to improve school policy and providing professional development sessions on equity and inclusion for teachers. He said teachers typically cover the Great Swamp Massacre in fifth grade during lessons on King Philip’s War. 

“The district remains committed to ensur[ing] that we account for all important information and history as it relates to our tribal community,” he wrote in an email to ����Ӱ��.

Though there is much more work to do, the elder Baker appreciates that the Chariho district has made some efforts to better serve its Native students. The high school has a on staff and, recently, has begun engaging in conversations with Indigenous parents about further improvements.

“This isn’t about bashing the Chariho school district,” she said. “This is about recognizing that there are issues that have affected past and present generations of Indigenous students who have attended this school system and they need to be addressed on behalf of present and future generations.”

Chariho has formed an that has been meeting since the fall of 2020 in pursuit of more equitable school policies, practices and curricula. Some residents, such as the Bakers, say that the changes are sorely needed, but others staunchly oppose them.

“I do not support, at this point, the anti-racism task force,” audience member Jim Sullivan said during public comment at a Nov. 9 . “I am concerned about their bringing racism into the Chariho system.”

“We are not domestic terrorists,” he added, referencing escalating tensions nationwide at board meetings that recently prompted the National School Boards Association to send a letter to the White House requesting increased support and security.

The pushback does not phase endawnis Spears, who recently joined the Chariho School Committee after a member’s resignation. Spears, who does not capitalize her first name, is a member of the Navajo Nation, with ties also to the Chocktaw, Chickasaw and Ojibwe people. Diverse perspectives, she believes, are necessary to the development of all children.

“I want to ensure that teachers have everything they need to prepare their students — all of their students — to be able to navigate citizenship in the United States,” she told ����Ӱ��. “That includes Indigenous histories.”

“The lack of nuance around Indigenous histories also is a form of erasure,” she added. “It continues the process of erasing Native people from this landscape.”

Statewide, Lorén Spears, executive director of the Tomaquag Museum for Indigenous history, culture and arts in Exeter, Rhode Island and related to endawnis Spears by marriage, believes officials must work to better represent the state’s Native students.

“I think it’s been very teacher-by-teacher, the improvement, rather than the system of education improving,” she said on a of the Boston Globe’s Rhode Island Report podcast. “I would like to see, you know, the Department of Education really take an active role in ensuring that the history is inclusive and includes Native people.”

State social studies standards do not stipulate that schools teach specific aspects of Native history or culture, said the Rhode Island Department of Education, instead leaving those decisions up to districts.

“If materials [that districts] use presently from a publisher do not adequately address Indigenous representation, [the state education department] would strongly encourage school leaders to develop materials they can use to meet the standards,” Communications Director Victor Morente wrote in an email to ����Ӱ��.

Accurately representing Native Rhode Islanders means addressing certain truths that may be difficult, said the younger Baker. But covering those facts in schools, rather than mythologized narratives of harmony between colonists and Native people, doesn’t mean placing blame on any students, she said.

“The establishment of this country was pretty much the murder of a lot of Indigenous people, including my ancestors,” she said. “I don’t think that [white] kids should feel ashamed because it’s not really them. It’s their ancestors.”

It’s only shameful when students shy away from those histories, she believes. “If they refuse to acknowledge that that happened, then you kind of become complicit in not recognizing the struggles that [Indigenous] people went through.”

In school, the only time she remembers a lesson on Indigenous people was a brief mention in fifth grade around Thanksgiving. She doesn’t recall any lessons on the Great Swamp Massacre. Additionally, in high school, outside of class, she had a teacher who held a reading group focused on Native sciences, which discussed a book written by a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She enjoyed the experience, and wishes there could be official courses devoted to such topics. 

“Even having a class just on the history of Indigenous peoples, like how they have classes on ancient Greek and Roman things, that would be really cool,” said the college freshman, who is studying marine biology. She receives free tuition at URI thanks to her status as a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.

Teachers can cater Indigenous history and culture to learners of any age, said Cullen-Fry, who works as an educator at the Tomaquag Museum. For example, many classes visit the museum in November, Native American Heritage Month. She corrects the youngsters’ misconceptions about Thanksgiving, teaching them that it’s traditional in many Indigenous cultures to celebrate 13 Thanksgivings, one for each of the year’s moon cycles.

States such as Oregon have moved in recent years to require that schools teach , and to bring tribal educators .

But until such shifts, large and small, are incorporated into Rhode Island schools, the Baker family will celebrate progress on a more personal level.

When Nittaunis walked across the graduation stage in May 2021, she was adorned with tribal jewelry and ornamentation, passed down from her ancestors. Her mother, after so many of her own personal experiences of feeling that her Indigenous identity was erased by the world around her, wanted people to know: Another Indigenous child just graduated from Chariho High School.

The proud message was simple.

“Society doesn’t think that we’re here,” the elder Baker said. “We are here.”

In the most striking instance so far, a North Texas administrator informed teachers last week at a training session on that they had to provide materials that presented an “opposing” perspective of the Holocaust. A recording of the Oct. 8 training at Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, , has reignited the debate over the so-called “critical race theory law.”

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“Just try to remember the concepts of [House Bill] 3979,” Gina Peddy, Carroll ISD ’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, is heard telling teachers on that recording. “And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has an opposing — that has other perspectives.”

It’s not the first time the Carroll school district in Southlake — the affluent suburb that sits between Fort Worth and Dallas — has made news with its interpretation of the new law, which is an attempt to keep , or CRT, an academic discipline usually taught at the university level, out of schools. Critical race theory’s central idea is that racism is not something restricted to individuals. Instead, the theory contends that bias is something embedded in policies and legal systems.

Two weeks ago, the Carroll school board voted 3-2 to reprimand a fourth grade teacher who had an anti-racist book in her classroom after a parent complained about it last year. And Southlake’s earlier struggles with a school diversity and inclusion plan — as well as how parents opposed to the plan started a political movement there — were the subject of a released earlier this year.

The Texas law states a teacher cannot “require or make part of a course” a series of race-related concepts, including the ideas that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex,” or that someone is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive” based on their race or sex.

Since Texas Gov. signed the anti-critical race theory bill into law June 15, reports of schools struggling to comply with it have surfaced, most notably in Southlake.

Since then, one Carroll teacher covered a classroom library with yellow “DO NOT ENTER” tape. Last week, NBC reported that teachers there have been given scoring tools known as rubrics. Those scoring sheets, also obtained by The Texas Tribune, ask teachers to move through a complicated chart to evaluate library offerings to make sure they are in compliance with the new state law.

The cards ask teachers to consider whether an author of each book has provided multiple perspectives. If an author “provides balanced information by providing multiple perspectives,” the book is given a maximum of two points. A book may get zero points if the “author perspective/bias distorts content, making the material inappropriate for use with students.”

In one email sent to teachers, also obtained by the Tribune, Carroll ISD administrators told teachers that classroom libraries could not be used until they have been vetted, using the rubrics.

“We want your staff to know that the classroom libraries will continue to be available for students, but we will continue to vet the material in those libraries for the remainder of the semester,” an email sent to teachers read.

After news surfaced this week about Southlake’s Holocaust guidance to teachers, state Sen. , D-San Antonio, wrote a letter Thursday to Mike Morath, the Texas Education Agency commissioner, requesting a review of how school districts are implementing the law to “refute hateful and racist rhetoric in our Texas public schools.”

“When this bill passed legislators warned that racist attacks would occur. It is our job to take every step possible to ensure an open and diverse forum, without subjecting our children to racism and hateful rhetoric,” Menéndez wrote.

State Sen. , R-North Richland Hills, tweeted Thursday simply that “Southlake just got it wrong.”

He added, “School administrators should know the difference between factual historical events and fiction. … No legislation is suggesting the action this administrator is promoting.”

Paul Tapp, attorney with the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said his organization has received questions from teachers because they don’t know what they can teach. A biology teacher asked if they should give equal time to creationism and evolution.

“These are two good examples of what the dangers of this kind of law are,” Tapp said. “The point of public education is to introduce the world to students. It’s not there to protect students from the world.”

Carroll ISD Superintendent Lane Ledbetter quickly clarified late Thursday that the comments made in the training “were in no way to convey that the Holocaust was anything less than a terrible event in history.”

“As we continue to work through implementation of HB3979, we also understand this bill does not require an opposing viewpoint on historical facts,” Ledbetter said.

Still, Carroll is not the only district in the state struggling with how to conform to the new law.

In Katy Independent School District earlier this month, administrators postponed an event by critically acclaimed author Jerry Craft after parents claimed his books “New Kid” and “Class Act” promoted critical race theory. The district removed the books, reversed itself and rescheduled the author event after a review committee deemed the books did not contain offensive material.

​Katy ISD did not respond to an interview request.

In June, in what seemed to be the first application of HB 3979, . A McKinney social studies curriculum coordinator wrote to educators that “in light of” the new law’s ban on political activism and policy advocacy, “we will no longer be allowed [to] offer Youth & Government as an elective course for credit.”

The cancellation of the elective course appeared to be a misapplication and one of the first instances that resulted in educators trying hard to understand the new law. So far, the law only applies to required social studies classes, not electives like the McKinney class. State Rep. , R-The Woodlands, the bill’s author, said in June that the Youth and Government elective “doesn’t have anything to do with lobbying members, so there is no reason [McKinney] would have to cancel it.”

Following the Legislature’s intent may get even more complicated for schools, teachers and parents in the coming months. This December, , authored by state Sen. , R-Mineola, and passed in the state’s second special session in August, will place more restrictions on a school’s curriculum.

SB 3 says that at least one teacher and one campus administrator at each school must undergo a civics training program. Also, it says teachers cannot be forced to discuss current controversial topics in the classroom, regardless of whether in a social studies class or not. If they do, they must not show any political bias, the law says.

“What I would hope most of all is that school districts will actually read the law, and apply the law as written and not go beyond what the law actually requires them to do,” Tapp said. “As soon as I read the bills, I expected that this would be the result of it, and I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it.”

Brian Lopez is a reporter covering public education , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Disclosure: The Association of Texas Professional Educators has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

Speaking to ����Ӱ�� as the uprising was unfolding, Clay Roy said the day exposed the “very deep divisions” in America, but she also held onto a sense of optimism: “I am hopeful in this moment, that there is a peaceful conclusion to what’s happening now and that folks can begin to focus on how we are going to move forward and try to repair many of the breaches and rips that have occurred.”

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That hope infuses how Clay Roy talks about about civics education and in particular action civics — an approach that guides students to find a problem in their community and work together to solve it — which Generation Citizen helps bring to life in classrooms around the U.S.

More recently, critics have action civics for encouraging students to be activists and for promoting partisan causes. But, Clay Roy said, Generation Citizen is “issue neutral” and teachers using the program let students choose issues that matter to them.

Clay Roy said the controversy is an opportunity to explain Generation Citizen’s mission and talk about its success. , for example, showed students in Generation Citizen classrooms were more likely to say they participate in their other classes.

����Ӱ�� talked to Clay Roy earlier this year about her own journey with civic life and her dreams for Generation Citizen.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

����Ӱ��: I noticed in that when you were a kid you campaigned door to door for local politicians in Boston and led the youth coverage of the 2000 presidential election for a PBS show. How did you first get interested in civics and politics? 

Clay Roy: I grew up in a house where politics were talked about all the time. As an only child of two educators, I often say this because it is very true: I went from my preschool years of having Sesame Street on the TV all the time to watching the Eyes on the Prize documentary on PBS on repeat. The was this powerful representation of the Civil Rights Era.

Even though I was growing up in the 1980s, that it was on so frequently in my house is a representation of the fact that my parents believed that the struggle for civil rights wasn’t over, but had changed. I grew up in a house where there was a lot of discussion about politics, equity, fairness, and the role that education can and should play in a fair society.

I remember in third grade, during the Bush-Dukakis election, I volunteered to do a classroom debate with a fellow student. I was really passionate about politics from a very, very early age.

It really developed outside of school. On weekends, I would get involved with voter registration campaigns, which you could volunteer for even if you were too young to vote, or go door to door for city council candidates. I had a chance to think through that — and by watching lots of C-SPAN and Meet the Press from an early age — really develop greater confidence in myself as a future citizen and civic actor.

Part of the reason I’m so passionate about the work that Generation Citizen does is because I think it is important that a young person’s civic identity is formed in lots of spaces. For some people that’s family, for some people that’s church or faith, and for others, it might come about from a youth organization they’re involved with. But school is such an important setting for young people to have that civic identity affirmed and grow.

It was really an incredibly caring high school teacher who encouraged me to be confident and to talk about what I cared about inside of school, even if that’s not what anyone else was talking about, even if teachers weren’t necessarily creating opportunities to talk about current affairs. That teacher knew about my interest because I was always bothering him about it, talking to him about it. He encouraged me to really develop that part of my identity, and that was really important and allowed me to go from being a pretty shy and quiet middle schooler to a really proactive vocal high schooler and college student. And so I deeply appreciate not only the foundation I was given by my parents in terms of my own civic development but, I really credit that teacher, Mr. Bryant, for helping me solidify that in the school setting.

Thinking back to you as a kid, was there anything in particular that stuck with you or really inspired you in the Eyes on the Prize documentary? 

What I really noticed was how young many of the protesters were. It was clear to me that this was different from what I read in history books, which seemed to focus on what older people were doing, what established leaders who held representative office were doing. These change makers who were putting their bodies on the line — and who ended up in many ways being founding mothers and fathers of our multiracial democracy — were really young. It was visible that they were teenagers or college students.

It was reinforced by my parents telling me about their own experience. They both were involved in civil rights efforts, and they talked about that. I was also inspired because so much of our civil rights story of the 20th century in this country has had both youth leadership and happened in and around schools.

I grew up in Boston, so the Boston busing riots were never far from our imagination. I started school after the riots had occurred, but it was all a reminder, and one that I carry with me when we talk about issues of racial equity and racial justice. Those aren’t somehow grown-up issues that should be shielded from children. Children are very much engaged and involved in those elements of our society, from as soon as they leave home, and we have a responsibility to create an environment that’s worthy of young people’s engagement, and we have to be conscious of their safety.

We also should not shield young people from conversation and opportunities to engage in changing their surrounding environment until they’re old enough to vote. There’s nothing magical about the age of 18 that says that that’s when you fully become a member of society. Just because we’ve determined that to be the voting age doesn’t mean that that’s the first age when you get to take civic action, or when the consequences of government will start to affect you. The consequences of government start to affect young people far sooner.

I think that what the takeaway for me [from Eyes on the Prize] was that young people have an opportunity and a moral responsibility to be involved in civic change.

Some critics have said action civics tends to leave out facts that they think students should know or that it overemphasizes social justice and progressive causes. What do you make of those criticisms? 

I think it’s important to be grounded in facts — we want that for our students. … Action civics is project-based learning about civics and our democracy. And the fact is classrooms are one of the only public spaces where students engage with the world independently from their caregivers. It’s especially important that students have an opportunity to learn in a supported and supportive setting, about current event issues, so that they can be supported on their path toward active citizenship.

One of the core tenets of our work at Generation Citizen is that we as an organization are completely issue neutral. We have never selected an issue that students participate in, nor do we ask teachers to play any role in that. That’s one of the many areas that we are in fact looking to support student critical thinking, student learning and deliberative debate among students, which are the skills we’re trying to teach. The students select the issues that they work on.

For those who are worried about politics in the classroom, we know that the overwhelming experience of Generation Citizen teachers over the last decade in several states has been that the curriculum brings students together and helps them find common ground, reducing polarization, reducing mistrust. We’ve seen that from Texas, to California, from Oklahoma to Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and New York, and and we believe that project-based civics really teaches students to engage in civil discourse, bridge their differences and build consensus, which are some of the skills that we sorely need as adults in this country. Being able to help the rising generation do that feels more important than ever.

Does the culture war that’s unfolding around critical race theory change how you think or talk about Generation Citizen’s work?

It doesn’t change fundamentally except that we always feel like we have a responsibility to communicate about our work in a way that is understood. And so if it means that we have to more thoroughly share our approach with a variety of different stakeholders, we don’t take that as a problem: That’s a good thing to have the opportunity to talk about our work with different folks. Our work is more important than ever. The concerns that are being lifted up do not take us off of our path as an organization seeking to support high-quality civics education across the country, and we believe that education and action are both good for democracy … We want more people to participate in their communities, not fewer. And I think what’s important is we know that because this has become polarized, and there’s different levels of information in different communities about what action civics is.

We welcome the opportunity to share our work with teachers and students, of course, but also with parents and school boards, and others. What we can take for this moment is it is always good to be having conversations about how we can best support student learning, and best support students on their path to becoming whole adults. We welcome the opportunity to talk about that.

What would you say to a teacher or a principal who wants to bring Generation Citizen into their school or classroom but is worried about hearing backlash from people who might just be uninformed about what it means or who are worried that it’s going to be too political?

I think it comes down to first making the very clear, data-driven case, first, that action civics is effective at supporting student learning. We know that high quality civics education prepares young people to be informed civic participants in our in democratic society. There are so many program evaluations that verify the effectiveness of Generation Citizen’s work and other civics education curricula, and find positive influences on their applied knowledge, their skills, as well as their civic disposition.

The other part is to answer some of the questions that other stakeholders might ask of that teacher or administrator. First, does action civics promote a partisan agenda? And the fact is no, it does not push any partisan agenda. Neither the curriculum nor teachers ever tell students what to think or what to prioritize or identify as a critical issue. Instead, teachers are guided to help students gather reliable information, including sources of information from different perspectives, and how to read those carefully considering assumptions and underlying logic to formulate their own conclusions.

Another question that sometimes comes up is, are students too young to engage? What we know is that civic literacy is not something you’re born with, but it can be developed in a developmentally appropriate way at every age from elementary school on up… No one is imposing on students an agenda, but in fact, teachers are giving them tools to use as they look at the world out in front of them, which can be their classroom, school, community or country. This is different in each school. We believe that teachers have deep wisdom and knowledge about how to support their students through this journey, and our role as Generation Citizen is to provide state standards-aligned materials, and a well-documented and tested program that can support educators to guide their classes through that process.

The last thing that has been raised, for example, on social media, is a notion that students are taught to protest or to have or to have a negative point of view about establishment or government. That is not what action civics is doing. We’re supporting students to learn how to find their own voice and participate in self government. … We take very seriously the notion that our government is a government for the people, by the people and of the people. And action civics is a set of tools that helps schools make that real for their students. And I can’t think of anything more important or more patriotic that schools could be doing in a moment like we’ve been in.

We just have lived through a really dramatic couple of years: There’s a major crisis in the pandemic. We saw an impeachment, Donald Trump disputing election results and making false claims, and an armed insurrection at the capitol. What does civics education need to look like in the post-Trump presidency America? 

Despite the intensity of this moment, civics education in many ways is as urgent now as it was 12 years ago when this organization was founded, and the urgency remains, and has only grown. What Generation Citizen believes is critical for civics education is that it is fully experiential and action-oriented. Not just because pedagogically that is a powerful approach to engage students and have them feel excited about and connected to what they’re learning. It’s even more critical in this moment, because in a moment like this when we are seeing such turmoil, a danger can be that young people — or any of us — get into an observational stance around our government. We have to remain firm in a sense of our own agency. And the active role that we play reminds me of , “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.” It feels particularly critical in how we think about civics education and I think what is so essential, even on a day like Jan. 6 when [many students were in school remotely and might have been watching on TV].

By having a positive experience where they have learned about and identified a priority issue in their community and researched it so that they feel confident in their understanding of that issue, and then having the experience of being able to go to city council meetings, talk with local officials, work with staffers of a state legislator and put together legislation — to me, that kind of lived experience can create a likelier path to success for bigger projects.

What does your identity as a Black woman and your previous work on racial justice mean for you as the leader of Generation Citizen? 

I’m conscious, frequently, of the fact that a generation from now, there will be no one racial group that is a demographic majority in the United States. I’m hopeful about that. I think people are recognizing that greater racial justice and deeper democracy are actually interwoven as critical for America’s foundational strength, and that it’s going to be difficult for us to have a strong multiracial democracy without addressing the challenges that racial injustice have created in the foundations of our country.

[At Generation Citizen,] we have set a clear goal around strengthening democracy by elevating youth voice, and that also means being attentive to the ways in which racial equity is connected to whose voices are listened to. The outcomes of a healthy, robust democracy are intertwined with the outcomes of an equitable society. That’s something that for me, as a Black woman growing up in this country, has always kind of been second nature. I can’t imagine a notion of a strong, healthy democracy that leaves some people out. So in that sense, I think we have always been on the path of perfecting our democracy. And we’re not, in fact, in a moment where we are looking to the past, to find our democratic strength, I think we’re looking to the future.

The poem that has always resonated with me so profoundly — though this was before became perhaps one of my favorite American poets — but the poem that’s always struck me so deeply, so personally, is Langston Hughes’s and the recognition that he describes in that poem — “America will be” — is my version of patriotism, which is a deep, abiding love for the country that we could become, and that we have not yet been. That language really speaks to a recognition that you cannot have a true robust, healthy democracy that leaves some people out based on any marker of their identity.

From a practical point of view, how does getting kids involved in action civics and real-life projects help make this country a more robust democracy? 

It does it in a number of different ways. When young people participate in Generation Citizen’s curriculum, some of them go very quickly from feeling like they are observing politics from afar to recognizing that they are actual changemakers in their community at that moment. They don’t need to wait for anyone’s permission to be changemakers in their community. And once you learn that, and once you’ve experienced that, and you have gotten the attention of an elected official who is listening to you, recognizing your expertise, and is starting to make change as a result of what they’ve heard, it’s hard to go back to a place where you think that your participation doesn’t matter.

Even if your entry point to that is on the safety of water of the water in your schools, as it is for some of our students in New York, or it’s about substance abuse issues in your school in Lowell, Massachusetts, whatever your entry point is, the recognition and the civic knowledge you develop, as a result of that process, will forever be part of your consciousness as other collective challenges arise. You have learned the skills to bring your voice forward and engage others to bring their voices forward, to try to make community change. And particularly to do that outside of the ballot box. Now, we believe so deeply in voter engagement, and often partner with groups that work on voter engagement, but too often, our conversations about democracy with young people are telling folks to vote. We feel very deeply that what we’re doing here is talking about everyday democracy, which complements voting and is a real driver of long-term civic engagement.

The other piece is that in our curriculum, we invite students to do a root cause analysis of the challenges facing their community. That is a lesson that sticks with young people. When we ask years later, what do you remember most of the curriculum, often former students talk about the root cause analysis, because once you have undergone that with a great teacher, with engaged classmates about one issue, you keep doing it, and you wait to return to a deeper understanding of the root causes of any of the symptoms of our collective crises. For me, that is the most exciting kind of critical thinking you can do.

And lastly, the civic knowledge and skills that are developed as a part of the curriculum invite young people to understand the levers of power in their community, in a way that does make them more invested and engaged in future elections, and potentially in running for office themselves, because they have a real, tangible understanding of how change gets made on issues that they know impact their lives.

You wrote this year in a Generation Citizen that hope is a “tool of personal and collective survival.” Can you talk more about your sense of hope and what that means for you going forward?

Many of us who spend time working with young people in or out of schools have to be hopeful almost by definition because there’s attention to the possibility in every day and the possibilities for each student and a real commitment to never giving up … Some of my hope is grounded in a core belief that individuals can make a positive and profound difference and that even as we see dark moments for our country, the positive action of individuals, particularly young people, can be meaningfully transformative. I believe that when we invest in young people — whether that’s through civics education, whether that’s through mentoring, whether that’s through the arts or the many other areas where we invest in young people — we will see the results of that can be exponential. That’s why I feel deeply passionate about working with and for young people.

The other reason I feel a sense of hope and optimism is because I believe there has been a greater unveiling of the challenges that we face as a country and a shared witnessing of the seriousness of the moment we’re in. The pandemic has made incredibly visible our interdependence. It’s become cliche to say this, but we’re not going back. We’re only going forward. I believe strongly that there is going to be a deep desire on the part of many many many Americans to find ways to move forward that strengthen our democracy. I believe we’re not going to take it for granted.

I am particularly hopeful because I think that the rising generation — which reflects a diversity not yet seen in America and a greater understanding and openness to our diversity — creates space for so much leadership to emerge. They can be transformative for our country in a positive way. I’m excited about this work because of what Generation Citizen’s work can do to support our democracy and to support a sense of self worth and agency in the hearts of young people across this country. I think both of those are needed — collective transformation and an individual sense of agency and purpose.

FutureEd has  47 bills introduced or prefiled this year in 23 state legislatures that limit teaching on these topics. Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have enacted 11 of these bills, signed into law by their Republican governors. And another bill is awaiting signature from Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey.

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Some of the bills, like , explicitly preclude the teaching of The New York Times’ 1619 project, which frames American history in the context of slavery, or critical race theory, including . Others, like , prohibit teaching “divisive concepts,” including racism and sexism, those that make students feel guilty because of their race, or those that make a student feel inherently racist because of their race. And two Wisconsin bills limit training on racism and sexism for  and  educators.

This article originally appeared . 

Every year, students researched current issues, proposed and debated their own public policy, and competed in a mock legislature and elections process for statewide offices. Since the program’s arrival to McKinney in 2005 as a club, seven of the district’s middle school students have been elected governor — the program’s top honor — at the statewide conference in Austin. In 2017, the district added an elective option: Seventh and eighth graders in two of the district’s middle schools could now receive course credit for participating in the program.

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But in June, the district canceled the elective option in response to passed during this year’s regular legislative session. In an email to middle school administrators obtained by The Texas Tribune, a social studies curriculum coordinator wrote that “in light of” the new law’s ban on political activism and policy advocacy, “we will no longer be allowed [to] offer Youth & Government as an elective course for credit.” As the law puts restrictions on courses, not on extracurricular activities, the original club remains available.

The cancellation is an early application of , which goes into effect Sept. 1. The law is part of a nationwide movement to ban any teachings conservatives believe sow racial divisions and make white children believe they are racist. Republicans label these teachings The new law also restricts classroom discussions on current events and bans teaching that anyone should feel discomfort or guilt about their race.

Texas teachers and academic experts say that the term critical race theory — the name of an academic framework used to examine structural causes of racial inequity — is being used politically as a catchall phrase for any teachings that challenge or complicate dominant narratives about the role of race in the country’s history and identity. And they have warned that the new law would cause schools and teachers to unnecessarily curb discussions about civics and avoid race-related subjects out of fear of violating the law — or being accused of violating the law, even if they are discussing topics not explicitly banned.

The cancellation appears to be a misapplication. The new law only applies to required social studies classes, not electives like the McKinney class.

Regardless of the technicality, state Rep. , R-The Woodlands, the bill’s author, said that the Youth and Government elective “doesn’t have anything to do with lobbying members, so there is no reason [McKinney] would have to cancel it.”

However, the law does not define “political activism” or “activity involving social or public policy advocacy.”

Steven Poole, the executive director of the United Educators Association, said that the cancellation illustrates the dangers of the bill’s vagueness. “It points to how up in the air the legislation’s writing is, and how much people can read into it,” he said.

“There are a lot of answers that the state Legislature, the State Board of Education, and the TEA need to provide districts and teachers,” he said.

In response to inquiries from the Tribune, the district said it would “decline to participate in this article” and sent a reminder to teachers that they must refer reporters to administrators.

Judith Anderson-Bruess, the McKinney teacher who began the Youth and Government club, led it until her retirement two months ago and taught the elective, disagreed with the district’s judgment that the program constituted political activism or policy advocacy.

“It was just a simulation,” she said. “[Students] wrote bills, they learned parliamentary procedures.”

Anderson-Bruess, who sits on the board for the statewide YMCA Texas Youth and Government organization, said that McKinney had “one of the strongest programs” because of the elective.

She said the elective gave students more time than the club to research and write substantive bills. She also said the elective made it easier to participate for low-income students and students of color, who had less means to commute to and from school outside of school hours.

“They were being successful,” she said. “And now it’s gone.”

YMCA Texas Youth and Government’s state director, Angela Castilleja, wrote in a statement to the Tribune that the organization does not believe the new legislation has “any direct relation” to the program.

The new law’s ban on activism appears nearly verbatim in a bill written by Stanley Kurtz, who against political action in the classroom and for the of a Florida bill that would have given some high school students college credit for Youth and Government. Toth said he “conferred” with Kurtz in crafting the law.

Texas’ law is the only one, as of July, to include a ban on political activism, among so-called critical race theory laws across the nation tracked by .

Gov. said the current law does not do enough to “abolish critical race theory” and legislators to strengthen the law in a special legislative session. Bills filed in the and passed in the for this session would enable broader classroom surveillance over teachings that have sparked outrage over so-called critical race theory indoctrination, such as instructional materials that mention systemic racism or white privilege. The bills also expand the current ban on activism to reach all classes and electives.

The Texas House is currently unable to function as Democrats have absconded from the chamber in order to block a GOP-led voting restrictions bill. However, Abbott has to call special session after special session until they come back and complete his agenda.

The future of the Youth and Government elective in McKinney is settled, meanwhile. The cancellation seemed to rest on the instruction of an outside attorney. The day the cancellation was announced, an assistant principal from Faubion Middle School emailed back, “The premise of YAG is for students to mirror the governmental/legislative process much like mock trials in 8th grade. Students do not make contact with any legislative members.” (Bold text included in original email.)

The curriculum coordinator asked a deputy superintendent for advice. One hour later, the deputy responded.

“Our attorney says we cannot offer,” they wrote. “The language is vague ….”

The attorney did not respond to requests for comment. The attorney’s firm, Abernathy, Roeder, Boyd & Hullett P.C., said the McKinney school district “took the most cautious approach” given the social studies law’s new boundaries and unresolved future.

Joy Baskin, the director of legal services for the Texas Association of School Boards, said that in interpreting the law, school attorneys generally seemed to feel that outside interest groups’ “calls for vigilance” would outweigh the exact letter of the law.

“If there’s a lot of parental engagement and complaints, it doesn’t matter too much what the technical language of the statute is,” she said. “It’s still an issue that school districts will have to respond to.”

Sofie Jordan, an eighth grader at McKinney’s Dowell Middle School who was scheduled to be in the Youth and Government elective, said she has never seen a teacher require political activism from a student and that the cancellation hindered her education. She has been in the club for the last two years and plans to continue through high school.

“There are people of both beliefs in that program who will be deprived of the right to learn about their government,” she said.

Jason Kao is a fellow , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Disclosure: The Texas Association of School Boards has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .