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Temecula Valley Unified’s school board has created an environment of fear and divisiveness on school campuses since it passed a resolution banning critical race theory, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The lawsuit filed in Riverside Superior Court on behalf of seven students, three teachers and the district’s teachers union, alleges that the resolution has resulted in the censorship of teachers and has taken away students’ fundamental rights to an education, violates the California Constitution because it is vague, infringes on the right of students to receive information and violates their rights to equal protection.
The plaintiffs want the court to declare the board resolution unconstitutional and order the board to revoke it.
“We will be seeking an injunction to end the hatred and the division sowed by this resolution,” said Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel, a nonprofit public interest law firm at a news conference Wednesday morning. Public Counsel and Los Angeles law firm Ballard Spahr are representing the plaintiffs.
The Temecula Valley Unified resolution banning “critical race theory and other similar frameworks” passed 3-2 in December. After numerous statements opposing racism and a quote from civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the resolution’s prohibitions include teaching that racism is common or that a person should feel uncomfortable, guilty or any sort of psychological distress because of their sex or race. It also forbids discussions on whether the United States was founded to preserve slavery. Teachers are permitted to teach about critical race theory only if instruction focuses on its flaws.
Critical race theory, usually taught at the college level, examines the role of institutions in racism throughout history. The theory is seldom taught in K-12 schools, and is not included in California’s voluntary state model curriculum. Critical race theory is often confused with culturally relevant teaching, according to the California School Boards Association.
The lawsuit challenged the school board’s definition of critical race theory. It claims the board is using the term as a catchall to include a wide range of concepts including racism, sexual orientation, sex discrimination, culturally responsive education and social-emotional learning.
“With the broad and vague nature of the intent and language of the resolution, it creates a hostile environment to teach and learn,” said Edgar Diaz, president of the Temecula Valley Education Association, the district’s teachers union. “Educators are uneasy about how to balance the facilitation of the discussions while avoiding broad topics and potential discipline.”
The resolution has had a chilling effect on Temecula Valley Unified teachers, who aren’t sure if they can comply with state standards while also complying with the board policy, according to the lawsuit. “Can a U.S. History teacher facilitate a discussion — as the California History-Social Science Framework instructs — on the question: Did the Civil Rights movement succeed?” it asks.
Teachers, students and parents who spoke or had their statements read at the news conference Wednesday, painted a picture of schools where teachers are afraid to teach about Black history and race and, as a result, discourage student discussions on the topic out of fear of retribution from administrators.
Teachers at the news conference spoke about colleagues being called into administrators’ offices to discuss the appropriateness of a mural or the display of the image of a civil rights leader on their classroom walls.
“It’s a chilling effect, and teachers are teaching in a hostile work environment, and we are being intimidated, and the students feel it,” said Dawn Sibby, who teaches government at Temecula Valley High School. “It affects them every day and makes them feel unsafe. It isn’t moving us forward; it’s moving us backward into a bad place in our district. We can’t get teachers to come to our district.”
Some teachers have received hostile voicemail messages and through social media, according to speakers at the news conference.
A parent identified only as Rachel P. said she is no longer confident that teachers can freely teach in the district. Two years ago, her son’s class read King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in its entirety, but the year after the resolution passed, no lessons were taught around Black History Month, she said, adding she’s concerned her son might fall behind academically as he progresses through grade levels in the district.
All the student plaintiffs and their guardians have been given pseudonyms to protect the children because of their ages.
Fourth-grade teacher Amy Eytchison broke into tears as she read a statement from Mae M., one of the student plaintiffs. “The board passed the resolution back in December, and it had an immediate impact,” Mae M. said in the statement. “Young adults became targets for social media harassment, not by children, but adults. Although this resolution has impacted my personal life, the continuation of the board’s ideological policies has the potential to harm the future of this district.”
The vote to ban critical race theory was the first of several controversial moves made by the Temecula Valley School Board since the election of a conservative majority last year. Since then, the board has fired Superintendent Jodi McClay and voted to ban state-approved textbooks that include lessons on gay rights and gay rights activist Harvey Milk — a move that led to an investigation by the California Department of Education. Under pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the board voted to approve the teacher-vetted curriculum, excluding chapters on civil rights, including the gay rights movement.
In July, the board called for the removal of books that they disagree with from school libraries, according to the lawsuit.
Speakers Wednesday talked about increased intolerance in school toward students of color and LGBTQ-plus youth. Diaz spoke of teachers who were afraid to display photos of their same-sex spouses in their classrooms.
The three-member majority of Joseph Komrosky, Jennifere Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez was elected in November as part of a conservative effort to flip school boards. Wiersma and Gonzalez were not available for comment for this story. The three board members are now the subjects of a recall effort by the One Temecula Valley PAC, a grassroots organization.
Board President Komrosky said he was only made aware of the lawsuit on Wednesday and has not been served with the suit yet.
“While I and the board will address and respond to the suit in due course through the board’s counsel and the judicial process, I will simply note for now that, in my view, this suit effectively represents an effort by those behind it to secure the ability to use CRT and its precepts of division and hate as an instructional framework in our schools,” he said in a statement sent to EdSource. “As one of three trustees who voted for the resolution and who prioritizes the interests of our students and the rights of parents and legal guardians, I do not believe that CRT or any racist ideology is a suitable educational framework for classroom instruction at the elementary and secondary level.”
Board member Steven Schwartz, who voted against the resolution to ban critical race theory, calls the resolution racist. He isn’t surprised by the litigation.
“Parents and students involved in the initial lawsuit decided that the only way to get satisfaction was to go to work,” he said. “That’s where we are now.”
Temecula Valley Unified joins other districts across the country that have pushed to prevent the teaching of race and racism in the classroom. Elected officials nationwide introduced at least 563 measures to restrict teaching about race in 2021 and 2022, and 241 of those passed, according to “CRT Forward: Tracking the Attack on Critical Race Theory,” a report from the UCLA School of Law. Almost all the measures impacted K-12 education, and 70% sought to control teaching and curriculum in the classroom. The most common consequence for a breach was withholding funding.
In California, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, Visalia Unified, Paso Robles Joint Unified, Ramona Unified and Newport-Mesa Unified are among the districts that have joined Temecula Valley in passing measures to restrict instruction about race.
“Since the board passed the resolution, it has created an unsafe, discriminatory and dangerous environment for our Black students, students of color and LGBT-plus students,” said Anthony M., a parent of a plaintiff. “In particular, the Black students who have voiced opposition have suffered an ongoing campaign of harassment by primarily adult supporters. The resolution is restricting our students’ access to an education free from intimidation, harassment and discrimination, pushing its ideological censorship agenda.”
EdSource reporter Mallika Seshadri contributed to this story.
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Comments (8)
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Beto 8 months ago8 months ago
CRT is just a fancy excuse for left-wing radicals to “teach” impressionable students that White people are evil and the source of everything wrong in the world yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Maril 9 months ago9 months ago
The fact that the teachers' union is involved says it all. The teachers' union wants CRT, DEI, SEL - all the same thing - to indoctrinate the kids. It's just a ploy to wrestle control away from parents, who have and should have, the primary responsibility for their children and what they are taught in public schools. Have courage, trustees, they are a loud and well funded mob, manipulating kids to help them spread their … Read More
The fact that the teachers’ union is involved says it all. The teachers’ union wants CRT, DEI, SEL – all the same thing – to indoctrinate the kids. It’s just a ploy to wrestle control away from parents, who have and should have, the primary responsibility for their children and what they are taught in public schools. Have courage, trustees, they are a loud and well funded mob, manipulating kids to help them spread their political ideology.
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Mike Thompson 9 months ago9 months ago
A minority, but they are indeed well funded, well organized, and loud. Yet when parents get organized they claim foul. Mob behavior indeed!
Teacher 9 months ago9 months ago
Mike Thompson - you are 100% correct. Isn't it interesting that Edsource keeps saying CRT is meant for higher education, however, if this is the case, then a resolution to ban CRT in K-12 grades should be irrelevant and a non-controversial issue. However, the over the top reactions to these board resolutions expose the perpetual lie propagated by Edsource. The fact is, the NEA wants CRT to be taught nationwide in K-12. … Read More
Mike Thompson – you are 100% correct. Isn’t it interesting that Edsource keeps saying CRT is meant for higher education, however, if this is the case, then a resolution to ban CRT in K-12 grades should be irrelevant and a non-controversial issue. However, the over the top reactions to these board resolutions expose the perpetual lie propagated by Edsource. The fact is, the NEA wants CRT to be taught nationwide in K-12. Here is the link from NEA that says it. https://web.archive.org/web/20210717130547/https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=https%3a%2f%2fra.nea.org%2fbusiness-item%2f2021-nbi-038%2f&d=4585809818419222&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=5cJWRRYjfIMlYoNuJUZphyjxO9_EOzYt
Many people of color are offended by the teachings of CRT because CRT equates the marginalization of a myriad of gender identity options to skin color. Edsource rejected a commentary written by the President of the Islamic University of California, Imam Mustafa, where he expressed these oppositions. Here is a video where he and other diverse leaders share these views:
https://www.google.com/search?q=diverse+voices+school+choice+now&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS916US916&oq=diverse+voices+school+choice+now&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRhA0gEINjE1MmowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6869692a,vid:T1kMwj4hTmc
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Mike Thompson 9 months ago9 months ago
Thank you for the NEA link. I had no idea they were that blatant in supporting teaching CRT. Also a great point on linking gender and race. I have to believe we will look back on this gender identity topic in 5 years and ask, "What the heck were we thinking?" I do know that many in the "LGB" community are not happy with the transgender community and getting carried into the … Read More
Thank you for the NEA link. I had no idea they were that blatant in supporting teaching CRT.
Also a great point on linking gender and race. I have to believe we will look back on this gender identity topic in 5 years and ask, “What the heck were we thinking?” I do know that many in the “LGB” community are not happy with the transgender community and getting carried into the gender identity mess. When you think about it, why does LGBT get lumped together? The first three are sexual interest and orientation, but transgender is a completely different topic.
Mike Thompson 9 months ago9 months ago
Very disappointing to see that the Temecula District is being sued by its own teachers and students in a purely political move. Just by reading this article it is obvious that the plaintiffs are attempting to mislead the public with distortions and outright falsehoods. Worse, they are using students as pawns in their political games. At the base of this dispute is a simple question. Who gets to decide what is to be taught in the … Read More
Very disappointing to see that the Temecula District is being sued by its own teachers and students in a purely political move.
Just by reading this article it is obvious that the plaintiffs are attempting to mislead the public with distortions and outright falsehoods. Worse, they are using students as pawns in their political games.
At the base of this dispute is a simple question. Who gets to decide what is to be taught in the classrooms? The answer is that the local school board decides, provided that their decisions are consistent with California law. They have wide latitude to select the curriculum they feel is right for their local community.
In this case the board made some common sense decisions, such as not to have their schools teach that:
– A person is a racist just because they are white, or sexist because they are male.
– Individuals are either a member of the oppressor class or the oppressed class because of their race or sex.
– An individual is inherently morally or otherwise superior to another individual because of race or sex.
– An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment adverse treatment due to the individual’s race or sex, or an individual should receive favorable treatment due to in individual’s race or sex.
– Meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic or the scientific method are racist or sexist.
Does anyone really think that agreeing to not teach these concepts is a bad thing?
Yet somehow the plaintiffs want this to be declared unconstitutional?
“We will be seeking an injunction to end the hatred … sowed by this resolution,” said Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel, representing the plaintiffs.”
Look at those points above, Mr. Rosenbaum. How is not teaching those concepts hateful? Teaching those concepts would be hateful, not not teaching them!
Claiming that teachers can’t adopt to this resolution is disingenuous. For example, the lawsuit asks “Can a U.S. History teacher facilitate a discussion — as the California History-Social Science Framework instructs — on the question: Did the Civil Rights movement succeed?”
Of course they can, and there is a lot that could be discussed. Just don’t teach that “all whites are racist.”
To claim that teachers are fearful of retribution is preposterous. They have a union. As an ex-school teacher, I know first hand that it is nearly impossible to fire a teacher in California.
This quote from a teacher at Temecula Valley High School tells you all you need to know:
“It’s a chilling effect, and teachers are teaching in a hostile work environment, and we are being intimidated, and the students feel it,” said Dawn Sibby, who teaches government at Temecula Valley High School. “It affects them every day and makes them feel unsafe. It isn’t moving us forward; it’s moving us backward into a bad place in our district. We can’t get teachers to come to our district.”
Look at all the woke buzzwords in just a couple of sentences. “… chilling effect … hostile work environment … students feel unsafe …” It really is just ridiculous.
The saddest part is how the students are being used by the teachers union and their supporters. Look at the quote from student Mae M. “Young adults became targets for social media harassment, not by children, but adults. Although this resolution has impacted my personal life, the continuation of the board’s ideological policies has the potential to harm the future of this district.” I guarantee you a high school student did not write that sentence.
I implore the school board to fight this lawsuit and not give in an inch. We need to stop racial and gender discrimination in our public schools. To paraphrase Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, the way to end racist teaching in schools is to stop teaching racist concepts in schools. Temecula Valley’s adopted resolution is a good place to start.
Kurt Kollmann 9 months ago9 months ago
Are they really teaching CRT or are they teaching Culturally Responsive Teaching. There is a difference and that needs to be understood better by a majority of the public.
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Adam Fisher 9 months ago9 months ago
I don’t think they are teaching CRT. The resolution that passed was to prevent CRT, and discrimination, from being taught in schools.