OKCPS Board Denounces Law Limiting Race & Gender Curriculum In Classrooms

In a unanimous vote the OKCPS Board of Education denounced House Bill 1775 Monday night.

Monday, May 10th 2021, 8:53 pm



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The leaders of the Oklahoma City school district gathered Monday to take a stand against House Bill 1775.

Governor Stitt signed it into law Friday, limiting race and gender curriculum taught from kindergarten to college.

Superintendent Sean McDaniel said the bill this is a form of censorship, his fellow board members agreed.  

In a unanimous vote the OKCPS Board of Education denounced House Bill 1775 Monday night.

Multiple members expressed concern that this will only make teachers jobs more difficult. And the students will suffer the most.

“House Bill 1775 does not come from educators. It does not come from administrators, it comes from politicians who haven’t been in a classroom since they were students,” said board member Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs, District 3.

The chair of the board said now it is time for the state school board to decide what legal action can be taken.

“For us we are sticking with accurate history and we will protect our teacher,” said OKCPS Board of Education Chair Paula Lewis.

Board member Ruth Veales, who opened on the topic said it wasn’t easy but these conversations, at all levels, are important. She said protecting certain students from hard conversations is a disservice to all students.

“Have these conversations in a safe environment, in the school environment, to where it is safe and controlled,” Veales said. “It is just that important. Even for me to feel uncomfortable, to be made uncomfortable, it is worth it because it isn’t about me it is about these children in this district.”

The school board said teachers are already doing a great job when it comes to facilitating conversations about race and gender diversity and don’t need to be micromanaged.

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