A federal judge ruled that Arkansas could not stop two high school teachers from discussing critical race theory in class, but he did not stop the state more broadly from enforcing its ban on “the indoctrination” in public schools.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky issued a narrow preliminary injunction Tuesday evening against the ban, one of several changes enacted as part of an education overhaul that Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the law last year.
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This ban is contested by two teachers and two students from Little Rock Central High School, scene of the 1957 desegregation crisis.
In his 50-page ruling, Rudofsky said the state’s arguments make clear that the law does not outright prevent “classroom instruction that teaches, uses, or references any theory, idea, or ideology”.
His decision prohibits the state from disciplining teachers who teach, mention or discuss critical race theory — an academic framework dating to the 1970s and centered on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation’s institutions. This theory is not an integral part of K-12 education, and Arkansas’ ban does not define what constitutes critical race theory.
Rudofsky said that while his ruling was narrow, it “should reassure teachers across the state (and their students) that Section 16 does not prohibit teachers from teaching, using or to refer to critical race theory or any other theory, ideology. , or idea as long as teachers do not force their students to accept such theory, ideology, or idea as valid.
Rudofsky said his decision would still prevent teachers from taking actions such as grading based on whether a student accepts or rejects a theory or giving preferential treatment to students based on whether or not they accept a theory.
Students report to Little Rock Central High School on Monday, August 24, 2020 for the first day of classes in the Little Rock School District. A federal judge ruled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, that Arkansas could not prevent two high school teachers from discussing critical race theory in class, but stopped short of more broadly preventing the state from enforce its ban on “indoctrination” in public schools. This ban is contested by two teachers and two students from Little Rock Central High School, scene of the 1957 desegregation crisis. (Tommy Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
The state and the teachers’ attorneys said the ruling was an early victory in ongoing litigation over the law.
“We are very pleased that the court recognized that the plaintiffs presented disguised constitutional claims,” said Mike Laux, the attorney for the teachers and students who filed the suit. “With this breakthrough under our belt, we look forward to pursuing this incredibly important matter.”
David Hinojosa, director of the Educational Opportunity Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – which also represents the plaintiffs in the case – said the ruling “essentially gutted Arkansas’ law on censorship in classrooms, rendering it virtually meaningless.”
Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin said the ruling “simply prohibits doing what Arkansas never did in the first place.”
“Today’s decision confirms what I have always said. Arkansas law does not prohibit teaching the history of segregation, the civil rights movement or slavery,” he said. Griffin said in a statement.
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The lawsuit stems from the state’s decision to suspend an Advanced Placement course on African American Studies would not count for state credit in the 2023-2024 school year. The teachers’ lawsuit argues that the state’s ban is so vague that it requires them to self-censor what they teach to avoid violating that law.
Arkansas is among Republican-led states that have imposed restrictions on how race is taught in the classroom, including bans on critical race theory. Tennessee educators filed a similar lawsuit last year to challenge that state’s sweeping bans on teaching certain concepts of race, gender and bias in the classroom.
