The head of the Georgia Association of Educators says the group will lobby against a series of GOP-pushed bills that would restrict the way teachers can discuss race, and racism, in classrooms.
One Senate bill — SB 377 — would prohibit K-12 schools and higher institutions from teaching “divisive concepts,” an indirect reference to critical race theory.
That includes telling students that the United States, and the state of Georgia, are “funamentally or systemically racist.” The state Board of Education could even penalize schools that raise those ideas by cutting 10% of annual state funding.
Lisa Morgan heads the Georgia Association of Educators and is also a kindergarten teacher. Morgan sat down with WABE’s “All Things Considered” host Jim Burress and said lawmakers are not only censoring necessary classroom discussions, but they are taking the expertise of classroom educators completely out of the equation.
Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.
