Republican lawmakers have backed bills in several statehouses to limit diversity training or ban the teaching of “divisive” topics, which could complicate the work of many colleges. Although most of the new laws focusing on the classroom are geared toward K-12, faculty members believe their reach won’t stop there. Professors worry that what they teach — and the way they teach it — will come under scrutiny. And laws against various types of training might have a chilling effect on colleges, leaving them to review materials and lectures to gauge whether they comply with new rules.
This summer, the American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association, the Association of American Colleges & Universities, and PEN America released a joint statement in opposition of the legislative efforts. Nearly 150 organizations and associations signed on to the statement that said the bills “risk infringing on the right of faculty to teach and of students to learn.” These efforts are commonly described as pushback against critical race theory, but such a description is inaccurate since the term refers to an academic framework first used by legal scholars and that has since spread to other disciplines. An alternative interpretation of the pushback is offered by the authors of the joint letter: “The clear goal of these efforts is to suppress teaching and learning about the role of racism in the history of the United States.”
See the map below to find out where efforts to regulate the discussion of racism, sexism, and related topics are moving through the legislative process, have been turned into law, or have been adopted by state boards of education, and the number of faculty members and employees who could potentially be affected.
Alaska
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 854 Full-time employees: 3,445
Vermont
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,466 Full-time employees: 4,499
New Hampshire
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,476 Full-time employees: 4,498
The governor signed a state budget that includes language that prohibits educators in any school district from “teaching discrimination.”
Massachusetts
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,499 Full-time employees: 25,686
Maine
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,540 Full-time employees: 5,187
Washington
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 11,532 Full-time employees: 41,408
Montana
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,917 Full-time employees: 6,493
The attorney general issued an opinion that says “critical race theory” and “antiracism” programming is often discriminatory and violates federal and state law. The legally binding opinion was issued at the request of the superintendent of public instruction.
North Dakota
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,933 Full-time employees: 6,800
South Dakota
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,798 Full-time employees: 5,321
Minnesota
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,969 Full-time employees: 27,971
Wisconsin
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 11,442 Full-time employees: 35,967
Legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers would prohibit “antiracism” and “antisexism” student instruction and training for employees at the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System. Violators would lose 10 percent of their funding.
Michigan
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 20,180 Full-time employees: 64,990
Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban critical race theory, teaching the “1619 Project,” and a handful of “anti-American and racist theories” from the curriculum of public schools. The bill calls for cutting by 5 percent the funding for school districts deemed to be in violation.
New York
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 21,909 Full-time employees: 62,175
Connecticut
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 3,996 Full-time employees: 13,292
Rhode Island
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,397 Full-time employees: 4,210
Oregon
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,418 Full-time employees: 27,822
Idaho
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 2,684 Full-time employees: 8,900
Public colleges can’t discuss race and gender in ways that adhere to tenets it says are “often found in critical race theory.”
Wyoming
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,298 Full-time employees: 4,501
Nebraska
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 4,033 Full-time employees: 16,329
Iowa
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 6,203 Full-time employees: 22,146
Set restrictions on what diversity training can cover at public colleges.
Illinois
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 13,946 Full-time employees: 53,659
Indiana
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 11,512 Full-time employees: 41,056
Ohio
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 17,174 Full-time employees: 70,261
Two bills were introduced by Republican lawmakers: One would limit how race and gender can be taught in public schools and restrict courses that included certain concepts from being required for graduation. The other would allow funding to be withheld from school districts that teach “divisive concepts.”
Pennsylvania
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 19,238 Full-time employees: 59,222
Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would keep public colleges from requiring students to read or view material that “advocates or promotes a racist or sexist concept” and would keep funding from colleges that were found to be in violation.
New Jersey
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 9,969 Full-time employees: 38,488
California
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 53,224 Full-time employees: 178,155
Nevada
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 3,034 Full-time employees: 9,676
Utah
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 5,613 Full-time employees: 23,300
After state lawmakers called on the state school board to ban the teaching of concepts they considered critical race theory, the board passed a rule that outlines what public schools can teach about race and equity.
Colorado
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 11,712 Full-time employees: 38,243
Kansas
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 6,824 Full-time employees: 23,023
Missouri
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,513 Full-time employees: 25,325
Kentucky
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,744 Full-time employees: 27,909
West Virginia
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 3,698 Full-time employees: 11,251
District of Columbia
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 225 Full-time employees: 724
Maryland
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 9,823 Full-time employees: 35,432
Delaware
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 1,867 Full-time employees: 6,504
Arizona
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 9,859 Full-time employees: 34,661
Schools can be fined up to $5,000 for teaching students that one race, ethnic group, or sex is superior to another; another law prohibits state and local governments from requiring employees to participate in training that presents any “form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex.”
New Mexico
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 4,213 Full-time employees: 15,862
Oklahoma
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 6,885 Full-time employees: 24,735
College students can’t be required to participate in mandatory gender- or sexual-diversity training, and “race or sex stereotyping” as part of orientation is banned. The state’s board of education passed temporary rules that give teachers guidelines on what is acceptable to teach under the new law.
Arkansas
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 5,505 Full-time employees: 20,738
Tennessee
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 9,402 Full-time employees: 28,931
Limits how racism and sexism can be discussed in K-12 classrooms, with 14 banned concepts listed in the bill.
Virginia
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 15,248 Full-time employees: 50,445
North Carolina
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 17,690 Full-time employees: 63,791
Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban public schools from “promoting” certain concepts, such as “a meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist.”
Texas
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 43,328 Full-time employees: 148,032
Teachers can’t be required to discuss a “currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.”
Louisiana
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,605 Full-time employees: 23,300
Mississippi
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 6,691 Full-time employees: 27,465
Alabama
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 10,713 Full-time employees: 34,485
Georgia
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 14,834 Full-time employees: 54,520
The state board of education passed a resolution that affirms that it “will not support, or impart, any K-12 public education resources or standards which indoctrinate students in social, or political, ideology or theory, or promote one race or sex above another.”
South Carolina
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 7,735 Full-time employees: 25,808
A section in the state’s budget bill bans schools and school districts from using public money to teach that certain traits or responsibilities are assigned to certain individuals because of their race or gender.
Hawaii
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 2,131 Full-time employees: 6,447
Florida
Higher education employees potentially affected by laws
Faculty: 18,624 Full-time employees: 71,498
A new rule approved by the state department of education bans public-school teachers from teaching critical race theory and using the “1619 Project,” published by The New York Times, as instructional material.
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