Alabama Legislature taking on efforts to prohibit progressive agenda in public schools
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Eye on Politics
Paul DeMarco
This Alabama legislative session one of the bills on track for debate is one that would ban promoting certain divisive topics related to race, sex, or religion in all public schools, colleges and state agencies.
This is the second year Alabama lawmakers have considered this legislation to prevent critical race theory from being taught to students. Other states, including neighboring Tennessee and Georgia, already have taken the same approach.
In 2021, the Alabama State Board of Education set in place a policy that would prohibit the teaching of such topics in the K-12 classroom. However, despite this ban, we have seen example after example of some teachers ignoring the ban and trying to burden students with their own political beliefs.
The bill passed out of committee this past week on a party line vote with Republicans voting yes and Democrats against. Opponents of this legislation have said that this is a solution looking for a problem since these topics are not being taught in K-12 schools in Alabama.
Yet, as on cue, Gov. Kay Ivey announced that her Alabama Early Childhood secretary was resigning because the department was providing such same woke ideology in their programs to its young participants. Specifically, a training manual for such educators raised the ire of the governor for promoting the idea that there are “larger systemic forces that perpetuate systems of white privilege,” that the United States is built on structural racism, and the materials delved into sexuality.
These are the same issues that will be addressed by this legislation being taken up by Alabama state representatives and senators.
Parents are tired of the politicization of their students’ classrooms. Thus, even more reason this bill needs to become law sooner rather than later in Alabama.
Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and can be found on Twitter @Paul_DeMarco.