on May 28, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET
But guidelines issued by the state directing teachers to reflect on their “cultural lens” and address bias in the education system are facing a lawsuit filed by a conservative legal group, which says they were illegally implemented and violate teachers’ freedom of speech.Why did Pennsylvania adopt a ‘culturally relevant’ education standard?
During roundtable discussions held by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 2019, school district and college leaders described challenges in supporting teachers of color, said Donna-Marie Cole-Malott, co-director of the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium. The education department, however, said in a legal filing that the guidelines “do not force any petitioner to do anything,” and said “any inference” about how the department would use the guidelines is “unsupported speculation.” As a result, the lawsuit should be dismissed.“From my perspective ... we’ve already won,” he said.The lawsuit is also a battle over what the guidelines say. King said the competencies violate teachers’ First Amendment rights.
In order to be good teachers, though, educators do need to believe certain things, El-Mekki said — including that people have biases, and that those biases can undermine student achievement.