HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL. – Yesterday’s attempt by Hillsborough County School Board member Melissa Snively to make a policy of banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) fell on deaf ears with the board preferring to discuss racial inequalities of bygone years, rather than focusing on efforts to ensure racial divisiveness has no place in our public schools.
Snively said she made the proposal because, “Indoctrination of political views by teachers is a real concern of her constituents. I felt this would reassure parents that we are aware of this rule, and ensure that it stays out of the classroom and hold the superintendent and board accountable for ensuring we are teaching factual information.”
In the end, it was clear that Snively – who was all but called a racist for making the proposal – was standing alone, and she subsequently withdrew the proposal.
While Snively’s effort to ban CRT failed, liberals on the board plan to introduce language mandating diversity, equity and inclusion training for teachers at the board’s next workshop.
Said diversity, equity, and inclusion training is already banned by the state as part of student curriculum, but there is no state language about not training teachers such nonsense. In other words, it is an end-around play, and instead of focusing on training for teachers to be better teachers, the board seeks to teach teachers how to be better liberal Democrats.
The proposal wording is as follows:
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training
- The Board is committed to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in our public schools. The
- Board also recognizes that implicit bias can be present and must be addressed.
- Implicit bias is the unconscious and often subtle associations made between groups of people and stereotypes about those groups. Implicit bias can have a damaging effect on student achievement and on personnel. Because the bias is not conscious, it is sometimes difficult to recognize, and appropriate training is necessary to understand and address it.
- The Superintendent shall develop requirements for training of instructional personnel and administrators in recognizing and overcoming implicit bias, and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.
- The training required by this section must include instruction in recognizing and overcoming implicit bias, and in supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.
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Chris Ingram is a communication, political, and media consultant in Tampa. Follow him on Twitter at @IrreverentView or send him an e-mail to chris@tampafp.com.