Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Bans Critical Race Theory in K–12
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Newly elected Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders banned critical race theory in K–12 public schools on Tuesday as one of her first actions in office.
On the campaign trail, Sanders pledged to restore a quality education for children, one without politicized curricula and pedagogy. In her inaugural address, she said schools need to return to teaching “reading, writing, math, and science,” not training in progressive frameworks like critical race theory and gender ideology.
Sanders’s executive order was signed just after she was inaugurated as the first woman to hold the governorship in the state. It directs the secretary of the state’s Department of Education to review rules, policies, and regulations that could “indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as CRT, that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law or encourage students to discriminate against someone based on characteristics protected by federal or state law.” A copy of the order was obtained by the Heritage Foundation.
If materials are found to be in violation of this standard, the secretary is instructed to amend, annul, or alter them to “remove the prohibited indoctrination.”
Critical race theory argues that white supremacy is intrinsic to America’s national character and that positive discrimination against privileged identity groups is necessary to rectify historical racial injustice.
“As long as I am governor, our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world, not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda,” Sanders said in her speech.
The order upheld parental rights in education, stating that government policies must empower parents to be the primary stakeholders in their children’s education and promote curriculum transparency in classrooms.
“Parents are the cornerstone of a good education,” Sanders told the crowd. “Our public schools do not belong to education bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. , they belong to you.”
Sanders also promised that her administration would fight for school choice, so that students wouldn’t be “trapped in a failing school or sentenced to a lifetime of poverty.”
