SAN ANTONIO — Texas Republican lawmakers have passed Senate Bill 3, as they try to take control of how certain topics are discussed in schools. This is in an effort to try and prevent “critical race theory” from being taught.
Teachers in San Antonio said, however, the theory isn't being taught in schools anyway. Typically, the theory is introduced in college-level courses.
Luke Amphlett, a high school teacher and co-founder of PODER, the Social Justice Caucus of the San Antonio Alliance, said the bill makes it harder for teachers to talk about important topics.
"We have a duty to make sure that our students understand the world around them," Amphlett said.
Amphlett said he has been a social studies teacher at Burbank high school for several years, and estimates about 98 percent of students at the school are Latinx. He said his job has gotten harder with the passage of HB 3979. SB 3 replaces the bill; however, both are similar.
"It's impossible for my students to really understand the world if this bill's provisions tie the hands of teachers and prevent them from talking about really important topics for their students," Amphlett said.
Senate Bill 3 tries to put a check on how racism, current events, and the country’s founding are taught in schools.
The bill states teachers don’t have to discuss current events or public policy, that slavery is the true reason for the founding of America but rather a deviation of the nation's principles, and cannot provide credit to students who choose to participate in political activism.
It also stripped upcoming requirements that students learn in schools, like the history of white supremacy and the ways in which it is morally wrong. Students also won’t be required to learn about the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. or the Chicano movement.
"In making it not seem so bad. We got away from the underlying issues which continue to impact the lives of black people into 2021," Jasmine Harris, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of African American studies and Coordinator of African American Studies Program at UTSA. She said the legislation makes her sorrowful.
Harris said politicians have taken “critical race theory” and turned it into something it’s not.
"It's been turned into you're blaming white people for everything that's wrong with the country," Harris said. She said the theory's intent is to discuss the long-standing issues Black people experience as a result of racism being embedded into institutions.
She added the bill could be putting students of color at a disadvantage
"It's easy to get roped into these the very stereotypes that this bill purports to not want to instill in white students," Harris said.
Additionally, Amphlett also said critical race theory isn’t being taught in schools, anyway.
"It is a manufactured problem and a manufactured crisis that is being manufactured on party lines for political reasons," Amphlett said.
The author of the bill, Texas Senator Bryan Hughes did not respond to a request for comment.
Amphlett says all he wants to do is teach his students the complex history of our country and how it impacts us today, so that is exactly what he plans to do.
"My students too often already tell us that they are not represented in the curriculum," Amphlett said.
Once signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, the bill will go into effect immediately.