Recently, a California judge issued a ruling that upheld a local school district’s ban on teaching critical race theory in the Temecula Unified School District. Superior Court Judge Eric Keen also ruled to uphold a policy requiring the school district to inform parents if their child decides to undergo a gender change at the school.
Although it may be temporary, the decision marks a notable victory for conservatives in California, who are in a constant battle with the state’s liberal governance. The parents and school board members who fought to enact these policies have endured harsh opposition from leftist activist groups, media coverage, and even Gavin Newsom.
Gov. Newsom has criticized the Temecula Unified School District over the transgender notification rule and other policies, such as its refusal to teach certain LGBT topics approved by the state of California. The state curriculum encompasses historical figures such as the San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Newsom subsequently fined the school district $1.5 million for refusing to include Milk in its curriculum.
According to the judge, the resolution, which “seeks to limit instruction on the subject of CRT to a subordinate role within a larger instructional framework,” was entirely reasonable in his judgment. Keen’s ruling on critical race theory stated the philosophy’s belief that “individuals are either a member of the oppressor class or the oppressed class because of race or sex… would seem to be incongruous with the Legislature’s clear intent found in [the] California Education Code.”
“A person of ordinary intelligence would have a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited as what is prohibited is set out specifically in the Resolution,” the judge added, explaining that the resolution was not overly vague, a complaint from one of the plaintiffs.
Keen further defended the School Board’s authority to have autonomy in banning topics, such as critical race theory, from being taught in its district. He also maintained that the board did not violate the First Amendment.
“School boards have broad discretion in the management of school affairs,” he added, citing case law. “The Board’s conduct does not offend the First Amendment so long as it is ‘reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns,'” he said.
California classrooms have been riddled with controversy, where conservative teacher have railed against woke policies. Last year, The American Tribune reported on a legal battle in the Escondido Union School District in which two Christian teachers objected to the district’s policy on gender transitions citing religious beliefs.
I just looked around the room like, is this real? This is really happening? This seems crazy. This seems like the school wants to take over to be the parent. And as a parent, I would not want that for my own children,” said Lori Ann West, a teacher at Rincon Middle School.
“One of the things that also really bothered us was that there was a disciplinary part of this policy that if we didn’t follow it, we could possibly be written up, even leading to firing. And that was really where I was like, this is so wrong,” she added.
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