Once again, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem can't let a culture war stone rest unthrown. At the Argus Leader, Morgan Matzen reports in Gov. Noem signs order limiting ‘divisive concepts’ for K-12 students:
Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order Tuesday that she said will limit the influence of “divisive concepts” in K-12 schools.
Noem’s move follows the failure of a bill that she proposed during the legislative session similar to the executive order. That bill, House Bill 1337, was killed in the Senate Education committee on a 4-3 vote.
However, the same committee passed a similar bill, House Bill 1012, pertaining to the state’s higher education system. Noem has signed HB 1012 into law.
Her order points to critical race theory as a “political and divisive ideology that teaches a distorted view of the U.S. and its institutions,” Noem said.
Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic theory that states race is a social construct, that racism isn’t just the product of individual bias or prejudice, and racism is embedded in the nation’s legal systems and policies. Top education officials in K-12 and colleges have said CRT largely doesn't show up in South Dakota's content standards or curriculum. . . .
In final arguments against HB 1337, 12 proponents argued it would keep CRT out of K-12 classrooms, and would keep students safe from discrimination or radical agendas.
But 13 opponents of the bill said it didn’t give clear direction to educators, questioned “promoting” concepts as opposed to “teaching” concepts, and argued it would have a chilling effect on South Dakota’s educators and censor classroom discussions.
They also argued there are already avenues to avoid teaching divisive concepts, such as the standards revision and adoption process that the Board of Education Standards uses, and routes to revoke or suspend teacher licenses if they teach anything divisive.
Keloland's Jacob Newton, Jazzmine Jackson, and Anna Peters report in Noem signs executive order banning CRT in K-12:
Governor Kristi Noem has issued an executive order banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in South Dakota’s K-12 schools Tuesday.
In a release sent out Tuesday afternoon, Noem announced the signing of the order.
“Political indoctrination has no place in our classrooms,” said Noem. “Our children will not be taught that they are racists or that they are victims, and they will not be compelled to feel responsible for the mistakes of their ancestors. We will guarantee that our students learn America’s true and honest history – that includes both our triumphs and our mistakes.”
The order has drawn criticism, with the ACLU of South Dakota issuing a response opposing the order. . . .
“Despite the legislature’s unwillingness to codify Noem’s desired policy, Noem today signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to accomplish her goal of censoring classroom discussion of what she calls “divisive concepts,” the ACLU wrote in a Tuesday release, arguing that the order violates the First Amendment right to receive information and knowledge. “Instead of encouraging learning, Noem’s executive order will have a chilling effect on academic freedom.”
Jett Jonelis, advocacy manager for the ACLU of S.D. said in the release that the order is overly-broad and could censor free speech and important discussions about systemic racism.
“All young people deserve to learn an inclusive and complete history in schools, free from censorship like this,” said Jonelis. “The ability to discuss and debate ideas, even those that some find uncomfortable, is a crucial part of our democracy — coming back with an executive order that is strikingly similar to her original bill is a subversion of our entire democratic process.”
The article mentions this tweet by Noem's campaign account:
Critical Race Theory has no place in our South Dakota public education.
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 5, 2022
That’s why yesterday I announced I will be signing an executive order to ban the teachings in our K-12 schools. pic.twitter.com/nPYye6E4oT
Here's the document:
Governor Noem's executive order limiting teaching critical race theory in K-12 schools uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Who knew history was to be defined by the comfort zones of individuals.
Photo: Nat Love, from SDPB's Nat Love aka Deadwood Dick: Cowboy, Nature Lover, Man of Letters, by Michael Zimny. We first learned about him when our father gave us a paperback copy of this 1965 book Such material wasn't in the local school library. And Mr. Love wasn't the character in Hollywood's 1940 Deadwood Dick.
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