Opinion: Is Critical Race Theory being taught in K-12 public schools?

Many elected officials, lawmakers and media reporters will continue to argue there is not CRT curriculum in public schools but Liv Finne says the evidence, however, points to the opposite conclusion

Liv Finne
Washington Policy Center

The debate over teaching harmful Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K-12 public schools continues to engage and confuse policymakers. As CRT has become more controversial, one side insists it is not being taught in public schools. The other side, composed mostly of concerned parents, says the hurtful ideology is being taught in K-12 schools. Here are examples of these two contradictory positions:

The Tri City Herald Editorial Board says CRT is not in K-12 schools:

“Critical Race Theory is a concept that came from 1970s academia and is taught at the collegiate and graduate levels — not at K-12. Essentially, it focuses on how laws and institutions have, over decades, created different outcomes for different populations. The idea is that racism is not just the result of a person’s bias or prejudice, but also is embedded in legal systems and policies where laws and court rulings can perpetuate it.” (Editorial, June 30, 2022)

Others say CRT is being taught in K-12 schools:

The League of Education Voters said in a webinar on November 17, 2022:

“In today’s webinar we will share how CRT can improve learning for students of color, and for all students, by affirming their lived experiences and providing tools to dismantle injustices in K-12 curricula” (at time stamp 1:33).

Family Policy Institute of Washington reports:

One mother observed her children were exposed to CRT material that is not “age appropriate, completely historically accurate, or worked to create a better environment” and that “instead it bred division, confusion, and guilt. This is not basic education and this is not the right direction for [our] schools.”

The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has provided the following CRT training to teachers, as required by SB 5044, signed by Governor Inslee in May 2021:

The school curriculum has many concepts associated with CRT: Origins, Indigeneity, Identity, Agency, Action, Reflection, Power and Oppression, Resistance and Liberation. The curriculum also includes CRT instruction related to diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural competency, social and emotional learning and similar terms intended to target and shame white students. (See my findings on Pathfinder K-8 school).

More of my research, with sources, is reported in the Washington Policy Center study “Washington public school officials lower academic learning standards as they implement Critical Race Theory.”

Many elected officials, lawmakers and media reporters will continue to argue there is not CRT curriculum in public schools. The evidence, however, points to the opposite conclusion. CRT may go by different labels, but the underlying concept remains the same: harmfully dividing students along race lines, and “otherizing” white students not for anything they’ve done, but for who they are.

Liv Finne is the director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center.