Pennsylvania Schools Districts, educators, and families sued the Woke education department over their DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Marxist guidelines.
The More Society said they are unconstitutionally forcing educators to espouse and endorse vague socio-political beliefs. They say those beliefs are unrelated to the state-approved academic standards. And doing so is in violation of Pennsylvania’s Regulatory Review Act.
“In short, the Secretary of Education has issued a regulation without legal authority that mandates adherence to the Administration’s ideological tenets,” explained attorney Thomas Breth, Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “They are forcing educators to affirm their belief in these ideological tenets and to impose the same upon their students. It’s a blatant attempt to impose ‘woke’ activism into school curriculum.”
“The litigation against the Department of Education was prompted by new CRSE Guidelines that required educators to disrupt harmful institutional practices, policies, and norms by advocating and engaging in efforts to rewrite policies, change practices, and raise awareness; design learning experiences and spaces for learners to identify and question economic, political, and social power structures in the school, community, nation, and world; understand and honor the ways in which culture influences verbal and nonverbal communication; believe that all learners have a choice and a right to practice the language(s) of their culture; and, believe and acknowledge that microaggressions are real and take steps to educate themselves about the subtle and obvious ways in which they are used to harm and invalidate the existence of others.
“Unlike the curriculum developed and implemented by local school boards and superintendents, this guidance is not tied back to the educational standards in Pennsylvania,” shared Breth, “which are focused on developing skills in communication, thinking and learning, along with academic literacy, language arts, mathematics, science, technology, social studies, health, physical education, and the arts.”
The More Society said the microaggression definitions constitute an infringement on free speech.
Emphasis added.