Laws about Critical Race Theory

To stop Critical Race Theory, two bills were passed in the spring by the Senate. HB 3979 was first passed in a close 18-13 vote after hours of debate, along with State Senate Bill 3, two bills that Governor Greg Abbott said were created to stop Critical Race Theory.

“House Bill 3979 is a strong move to abolish critical race theory in Texas, but more must be done,” Abbott said in a statement on his website.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick was also in support of the bill.

“This is why we don’t want critical race theory taught in schools,” Patrick said. “It breeds false narratives about our history.”

Junior Xander Colett-Bishop agreed with these politicians that said race should be removed from education entirely.

“I think really it’s none of the school’s business to teach us about race at all,” Colet-Bishop said. “I think… we should learn it outside of school.”

World and U.S. History teacher Lauren Kirby believes that changing how history is taught can be detrimental to students’ learning.

“Revising history is dangerous because teachers may teach things a certain way and then students may not fully understand the truth and the magnitude of the situation,” Kirby said.

One clause in HB 3979 prevents teachers from talking about current events unless they can “to the best of their ability, strive to explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.”

Humanities teacher Debbie Brininstool thinks that these rules are unclear but that it is important for teachers to keep their personal opinions out of the classroom.

“I do think that we have a responsibility, certainly as classroom teachers, to make sure that we’re not driving an agenda,” Brininstool said.

Junior Tabor Haigh believes that biases can be harmful to the education of students.

“I really do believe that biases should be removed from historical facts,” Haigh said. “It’s not only a detriment to students, because it can be a big detriment to society.”