The White House joined the liberal chorus charging critical race theory is not being taught in schools and is only invoked to stoke fear among white parents, a claim belied by ever-increasing reams of evidence.
After Virginia Republicans claimed victories in the governor’s race and two other statewide races Tuesday with campaign platforms highly critical of public school curricula and critical race theory, the issue made its way to the White House briefing room.
“We need to be honest here about what’s going on,” said deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday. “Republicans are lying. They are not being honest. They are not being truthful about where we stand. And they’re cynically trying to use our kids as a political football.”
WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘REPUBLICANS ARE LYING’ ABOUT CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN SCHOOLS
The comments prompted ridicule from conservative activists.
“Clearly, the Biden administration hasn’t learned that calling parents liars is not a winning strategy,” said Ian Prior, executive director of Fight for Schools, a political action committee that backed Youngkin’s campaign.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Jonathan Butcher, senior fellow in education at the Heritage Foundation, said Jean-Pierre’s claim was “nonsense,” pointing to numerous examples of school districts using the term “critical race theory” repeatedly in reference to K-12 instruction.
Critical race theory and related theories hold that race dictates the power dynamic of U.S. society and that even young whites are destined to be oppressors while their black peers are victims.
“I say unequivocally, critical race theory is taught in K-12 public schools,” Butcher said, noting he wrote a research paper detailing numerous instances of school districts openly using the phrase “critical race theory” in curriculum plans, teacher trainings, and other resources.
“We have evidence that the words ‘critical race theory’ are being used by educators,” Butcher said. “They are using it by name.”
In August, in Providence, Rhode Island, the National Education Association filed a lawsuit to block a parent from obtaining teacher emails in a Freedom of Information Act request, admitting the emails likely included references to critical race theory.
The NEA, the country’s largest teachers union, argued if the FOIA request was granted, “teacher’s emails will be produced that may or will contain discussions about critical race theory curriculum.”
“It is likely that any teachers who are identifiable and have engaged in discussions about things like critical race theory will then be the subject of teacher harassment by conservative groups opposed to critical race theory,” the lawsuit said.
Portland public schools hosted a critical race theory coalition summit in April 2021 via Zoom and posted the entire recording on YouTube. In Virginia, the site of the recent gubernatorial election, explicit references to the theory can be found on the state Department of Education’s website.
A PowerPoint presentation from 2015 encourages teachers to “embrace critical race theory” and “engage in race-conscious teaching and learning” on a slide that lays out “Culturally-Responsive Teaching and Learning Principles.”
In the Loudoun County public school district, where embattled superintendent Scott Ziegler has repeatedly claimed critical race theory is not in schools, teacher training programs prominently and explicitly feature the academic proposal.
“In CRT, racism is seen as an inherent part of American civilization, privileging White individuals over people of color in most areas of life, including education,” the program presentation reads.
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The materials are from the Equity Collaborative, a consulting firm that specializes in “equity coaching” that secured a no-bid contract with Loudoun County public schools in 2019.
“We work with schools, school districts, and youth development nonprofits,” the firm’s website says. “Our goal is to help organizations develop their own capacity to create educational equity and social justice by addressing bias and oppression.”
