Critical Race Theory
What is it, why did the TVUSD school board ban it, and what are the consequences?
Summary: Ignoring the normal process and despite objections from parents, students, and teachers, the board majority passed a resolution banning CRT and specific concepts from being taught in TVUSD schools. Although CRT is not taught in California K-12 public schools, concepts banned in the resolution are useful for students to discuss and analyze. The resolution has created stress and division in the community, worried students and parents about whether AP and IB courses will still be offered, and led to a lawsuit against the school board.
The resolution banning CRT
At their first meeting in December 2022, the three newly elected school board trustees (Dr. Joseph Komrosky, Jennifer Wiersma, and Danny Gonzalez) presented and immediately passed a resolution banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) and specific concepts from being taught in Temecula public schools.
Normal process for a school board resolution is to run it by district administration and affected people (for example, teachers and parents), to get legal advice from the district’s attorneys, to present it for discussion at one meeting, and then to vote on it at a later meeting. None of this process was followed for the anti-CRT resolution.
However, many people saw the resolution on the agenda prior to the meeting. So many people were concerned about it that the board meeting was moved to the Temecula Valley High School (TVHS) auditorium to accommodate everyone. Many people spoke about the resolution at the meeting, some in favor and some opposed.
Those in favor were worried that their young white children might be made to feel guilty for the slavery that occurred long before they were born, or that children might be viewed only through a racial lens, as white or Black children rather than individuals.
Those opposed were worried that the resolution would: (1) leave teachers unsure about what topics could be discussed in the classroom and students unsure what questions they could ask, (2) lead to teaching incomplete, “white-washed” U.S. history, and (3) make it impossible to offer AP (advanced placement) and IB (international baccalaureate) U.S. History classes in our local high schools.
Some people who spoke in opposition asked the board not to pass the resolution immediately but get feedback from teachers, parents, and students first. The board majority, however, passed it the same night.
Is CRT taught in Temecula public schools?
No. CRT is currently taught in some graduate-level university classes and law schools. It is not taught in any K-12 public schools in California. It has never been taught in Temecula public schools.
Then why did the school board ban CRT?
At the December meeting when the resolution was passed (3-2, with trustees Steve Schwartz and Allison Barclay voting no), school board president Joseph Komrosky stated that banning CRT was a campaign promise of the three new trustees, and they would keep that promise without further discussion.
Election information mailed out by the three and spread on social media implied that CRT is taught in Temecula public schools and stated that they would ban it. However, no evidence was (or has ever been) presented to the public that CRT or its tenets are taught in the TVUSD.
The problem with the resolution is that it contains vague wording and also bans some specific concepts from being taught. It’s the vagueness and banned concepts that concern teachers, students, and parents.
Read the resolution and learn about CRT in more depth.
What happened after the ban?
Community division
The immediate results of the ban were stress and division in the community. The abrupt passing of the resolution without normal process worried many parents, teachers, administrators, and students. High school students organized and held a walkout in protest. School board meetings were filled with angry people on both sides of the issue.
The three new trustees then hired a consultant, Christopher Arends, to hold training sessions with teachers on “the history and substance of CRT.” Mr. Arends is an attorney with no experience in teaching or curriculum; he wrote the Paso Robles school district CRT ban our three trustees copied. These training sessions were not useful to teachers because they presented a strictly negative view of CRT without answering questions as to what could be discussed in the classroom.
The three new trustees also brought in a panel of “experts” to hold a community forum on CRT at Day Middle School (March 22, 2023). Although the people on the panel were from diverse backgrounds, they all held the same negative opinion of CRT. Predictably, the community forum devolved into chaos, with threats, name-calling, and people being thrown out of the meeting.
Worry about AP and IB courses
Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses have been offered in Temecula public schools for many years. AP and IB courses give high school students college-level classes that they can use for college credit. They’re also an important part of many students’ college applications, as they demonstrate that the students can master complex material and are ready for college. Students and parents are worried that AP U.S. History and AP U.S. Government courses may be affected by the CRT ban.
These courses must meet the standards of the organizations who certify them. For AP courses it’s the College Board, which states, “If a school bans required topics from their AP courses, the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger provided to colleges and universities.” (https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/what-ap-stands-for)
Lawsuit
As a result of the ban, individual students, parents, teachers, and the Temecula Valley Educators Association have filed a lawsuit against all school board members and the TVUSD itself (Mae M. v. Komrosky, case # CVSW2306224). The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Riverside, on August 2, 2023 and served on the defendants on August 11, 2023. Here is the full text of the complaint. (It’s well worth a read.)
The complaint states, “The vague Resolution hinders Temecula educators’ ability to teach State-mandated content standards, prepare for the coming academic year, and support rather than stifle student inquiry. In turn, Temecula students are deprived of the opportunity to engage in factual investigation, freely discuss ideas, and develop critical thinking and reasoning skills.”
The complaint asks the court for an order “declaring that the Resolution is unconstitutional and unlawful, and enjoining the Board from implementing or enforcing it.” Note that there are no requests for monetary damages.
Defense for any lawsuit against the school district or the school board is paid for by the school district—that is, with the public’s tax dollars. Read how the three new trustees have decided to defend this lawsuit.