Ohio's State Board of Education repealed an anti-racism resolution Wednesday night and replaced it with one condemning any teachings that "seek to divide."
Supporters of the new resolution say it sends a much better message to local school districts about how they should approach difficult issues like racism and slavery.
But opponents say the new language could give people with potentially racist views the ammunition to pressure districts into canceling good diversity and inclusion programs.
The board passed Resolution 20 in July 2020 – just a few weeks after the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota Police officer.
"As our nation grapples with the hard truths of racism and inequality, we are listening with broken hearts and engaging with determined spirits," the resolution stated.
Resolution 20 became a lightning rod for the board
It went on to say that Ohio's children of color score lower than their white counterparts and are less likely to graduate high school or take Advanced Placement classes. And that "the path to equity begins with a deep understanding of the history of inequalities and inhumanity and how they have come to impact current society."
Resolution 20 then directed the Ohio Department of Education to examine its curriculums and standardized tests for biases and provide training for all its employees on implicit bias. And it suggested local school districts look at their own curriculums, textbooks, hiring practices and disciplinary policies.
The resolution quickly became a lightning rod in the debate over teaching about race in Ohio classrooms, drawing dozens of protesters and counterprotesters to state board meetings in recent months.
The board is even being sued over its decision to limit public comments on the topic.
A replacement offered for 2020 anti-racism resolution
Opponents of Resolution 20 said its wording intentionally opened the door for districts to teach "disturbing" and "divisive" material about racism and identity. Lesson plans that went against America's founding principles and divided kids into oppressors and the oppressed.
Board member Brandon Shea called it "a crisis in our nation and our country."
So, he drafted Resolution 13 as a replacement.
In it, he raised concerns about Ohio's achievement gaps, but he also "observed not only a growing national divide but a troubling focus on the color of one’s skin rather than on the content of one’s character."
And he condemned something called critical race theory, saying teachings had no place in Ohio's K-12 education system.
That didn't make it into the final version though.
Instead, Resolution 13 condemned "any standards, curriculum, or training programs for students, teachers, or staff that seek to ascribe circumstances or qualities, such as collective guilt, moral deficiency, or racial bias, to a whole race or group of people."
"It's not nearly as aggressive," board member John Hagan said after the vote. "It doesn't do any of the things that frankly I disagreed with."
Where schools go from here
Even though all the recommendations for Ohio schools were repealed by Resolution 13, board member Christina Collins said she thinks a lot of that work will continue.
"At the end of the day, it doesn’t prohibit anything," Collins said. "it isn’t law, and it doesn’t force districts to do anything different."
Still, she worried that this new resolution would "empower some of these very vocal groups that have been in showing up to these local board meetings" to protest against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
"Those definitions are being hijacked," she said. "These are phrases we’ve been using for a long time in the education world and suddenly they are problems."
She thinks it comes down to a disagreement about what it means to give kids a quality education and a divide over what children need to know in order to grow up to be a productive members of society.
"I think, for me personally, I am going to continue to support what was in that resolution from last year," Collins said.
What happens next
The board isn't the only group of elected officials debating how we teach about issues like slavery, racism and identity.
Republicans in the Ohio House have introduced two bills that would ban the teaching of divisive concepts. And they've introduced another bill that would get rid of the eight board of education members appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
House Bill 298 would cut Ohio's state education board from 19 members down to 11.
The two Republicans who sponsored the bill didn't mention the anti-racist resolution in their testimony, but a lot of the people who testified in support of the bill did.
Board member Kristen Hill was among those folks, and she included a graphic in her written testimony that highlighted all the appointed members who voted for Resolution 20.
"If there were no appointed, the resolution would have basically come out as a draw," Hill said.
The original resolution passed 12-5, and its repeal passed 10-7. The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau reached out to the appointed members who appeared to have changed their minds but did not hear immediately back.
Board member Meryl Johnson had a theory though, and she posted on her Facebook page: "Some of the appointed members were threatened by some legislators with the loss of their positions if they voted against repealing the equity resolution."
Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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