House Bill 324 Hailed as ‘Worthy of Emulation’ to Fight Indoctrination

New report finds that House Bill 324 “strikes the best balance” by addressing indoctrination while avoiding censoring curriculum

Raleigh, N.C. — A new report by the American Enterprise Institute highlighted in the Washington Examiner finds that House Bill 324, “strikes the best balance between addressing parents’ concerns about indoctrination without posing any risk of substantive curriculum imposition.”

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), who introduced the updated language in the bill, said, “House Bill 324 affirmed the responsibility to teach honestly about our sometimes ugly history. Schools should teach that history, not promote a separate ideology that tells kids to see the entire world always through the prism of race.”

Sen. Deanna Ballard (R-Watauga) said, “This is a common-sense bill. Parents across the state brought their concerns about indoctrination to their school boards and their legislators. The Republican-led Generally Assembly took a balanced, thoughtful approach to address those concerns, and I’m glad to see House Bill 324 being held up as a national model.”

Below are excerpts. Read the full story here. The full report can be found here.

Proposed North Carolina CRT ban a model for avoiding censorship, education expert says

A new report on state measures to ban critical race theory said legislatures should look to North Carolina as a model for proposing legislation that both bans the controversial theory and avoids censorship.

The report authored by the American Enterprise Institute’s Max Eden explained that there are three approaches being deployed in legislative efforts to ban critical race theory in public schools, but it said bills that ban the promotion of the theory are the model legislation.

…

Liberal activists and Democratic politicians have repeatedly insisted that the theory is not taught in public schools despite substantial evidence to the contrary. That evidence has prompted Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass legislation seeking to ban the theory.

But Eden, in his report, explained that state legislatures have either sought to ban “compulsion,” “inclusion,” or “promotion.” He said the latter, which was embraced by the state Legislature in North Carolina as it sought to ban CRT, is the best model for legislatures to follow.

Banning promotion prohibits school districts from even incorporating critical race theory in teacher training programs or contracting speakers or consultants that integrate it into their programs, he said.

“This approach encompasses the prohibition against compulsion,” Eden wrote. “But most importantly, it threads the needle of preventing the politicization of the classroom without presenting any barrier to honest and accurate classroom instruction.”

The bid to ban critical race theory in North Carolina fell short after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation. Meanwhile, differing versions of critical race theory bans have passed in several states, and numerous state legislatures have pending legislation.