Schools Aren't Forcing Critical Race Theory Lessons, K-12 Teachers Say in Survey

“We don’t get it. This objection is being pushed upon us, and it’s not even happening in our classes,” an English teacher in the Phoenix area said

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Teachers nationwide said K-12 schools are not requiring or pushing them to teach critical race theory, and most said they were opposed to adding the academic approach to their course instruction, according to a survey obtained by NBC News.

A roiling culture war has blown up at school board meetings and led to new legislation in statehouses across the country. But in responses from more than 1,100 teachers across the country to a survey conducted by the Association of American Educators, a nonpartisan professional group for educators, more than 96 percent said their schools did not require them to teach critical race theory. Only 45 percent said that teachers should have the option to add it to their lesson plans.

“We’re saying, ‘What is the fuss about?’” said Lynn Daniel, a ninth-grade English teacher in the Phoenix area. “We don’t get it. This objection is being pushed upon us, and it’s not even happening in our classes. I don’t understand it.”

Critical race theory is an academic study at the undergraduate and graduate level that aims to examine the role of racism in the modern era and the ways it has become woven into the social fabric. Academics in the field argue the U.S. has institutionalized a racial caste system.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

With many bills in state legislatures seeking to ban teaching of critical race theory, we reached out to Becky Pringle, a 30-year veteran science teacher who now heads the NEA, the largest teachers' union in the country. Pringle says when kids ask questions about race, adults need to be "courageous enough to answer those questions truthfully."
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