New battle lines are being drawn over the content of curricular materials being taught, particularly in the elementary classrooms across the country. Children, at an early age, are confronted today with adult topics that are divisive and far removed from the fundamentals of traditional reading, writing and arithmetic. More and more teachers are being forced by their school boards to explore subjects with young minds that previous generations of elementary students hardly knew existed – abortion, divorce, racial privilege and oppression, homosexuality, transgender, drug addiction and suicide.
In the midst of this wave of social emotional learning, parents and their children are finding their relationships being challenged on an ever-increasing basis. Education does not take place in a moral vacuum. As the Supreme Court has recognized: “Parental autonomy is basic to the structure of our society because the family is the institution by which we inculcate and pass down many of our most cherished values, moral and cultural.”
Several families in Williamson County sought our help in battling these and other alleged violations by the school district in teaching value-laden materials. These parents argued that all forms of political indoctrination, have no place in the classroom. Among the materials challenged are those that consist of what are called “Common Core” curriculum.
Common Core was intended to create nationwide education standards. In March of 2021, Governor Bill Lee, signed a bill that banned the use of Common Core textbooks in the state of Tennessee. Despite this recent legislation, the families who came to us for help found what they alleged were numerous violations of this state law. They also alleged that the Williamson County school system had circumvented this prohibition by adopting a curriculum called “Wit & Wisdom.”
Convinced that these families raised legitimate concerns, and that the school system in Williamson County had crossed the line, we filed suit in Chancery Court challenging the school district’s use of such materials. The trial court dismissed this action claiming the parent lacked “standing” to bring this action. This week, the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed this ruling and ruled that the parents, and their children, indeed had alleged sufficient injuries to mount this legal challenge.
The case is called Parents’ Choice v. Golden. Based on the Court of Appeals ruling in favor of our clients, the case will now resume at the trial court. This will furnish these parents with an opportunity to delve into how their children’s rights have been affected and to seek legal redress for these actions.
Parents who grew up during the 1950s and 1960s may reflect back on the Dick and Jane (and Sally and Spot Too!) stories taught to them in the first grade. That series, which was first published by Scott Foresman Elson as a reading primer in 1930, featured short, upbeat stories and pages filled with colorful characters and large, easy-to-read typeface. By contrast, first graders today, under the new “Wit & Wisdom” curriculum are presented with graphic descriptions of death and violence, and are asked to describe their “feelings” about such horrific accounts.
As children progress to the second, third, fourth and fifth grades, they are progressively taught from a curriculum that emphasizes “self-awareness” and are being challenged to think critically about such controversial issues as slavery, racial oppression and social justice. These norms are even more problematic when wealth and “Whiteness” are woven into the curriculum, and uncritically accepted as indicators of success. Many texts promote a sense of White racial entitlement and dominance, as well as negative biases and stereotypes about people of color and those from low-income backgrounds.
Neil Postman wrote, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” This is the first sentence that opens his book, The Disappearance of Childhood, which was originally published in 1982. Given the influence of curriculums like Common Core, what living messages are we sending today?
Larry L. Crain, Crain Law Group, PLLC – www.crainlaw.legal
