76 percent of HSE students believe critical race theory should be taught in schools. Critical race theory, or CRT, is the multi-disciplinary teaching of how social and political media and laws are shaped by the social constructs of race and ethnicity. In this year’s school board election, Tiffany Pascoe, Juanita Albright, Dawn Lang and Ben Orr were strongly backed by the Hamilton County chapter of Moms for Liberty. The Moms of Liberty group opposes mask mandates, critical race theory and social-emotional learning. The four previously named candidates won the elections in their respective districts, and all oppose CRT. CRT advocates for social change based on factors of equality, equity and inclusion. 

Tiffany Pascoe earned District 1’s seat, which was previously held by Brad Boyer, whom Pascoe replaced in a large majority. She campaigned for fiscal conservatism, which promotes tax cuts and lessened government spending. Her platform focuses on putting students first, though she has no children in the district. Janet Pritchett was District 2’s chair and served as the Secretary of the School Board. She was replaced by Juanita Albright, whose platform largely consisted of pro-parental rights advocacy, the notion that parents have the right to direct their child’s education, a strong principle of the Moms for Liberty group. 

In District 3, Michelle Fullhart, who was elected in 2015, did not seek a third term and was replaced by Dawn Lang. Lang aims to implement policies that will allow all children to be academically successful. She especially wants to see Hamilton Southeastern’s ILEARN and ISTEP scores increase. The former school board President, Julie Chambers of District 4, was outvoted by Ben Orr. Chambers had previously voted in favor of adding the controversial microaggressions sections in HSE student handbooks, which was narrowly included in a 4-3 vote. Now, Orr plans to re-instill the values of traditional learning (established morals and ethics) in schools. These are separate from personal ideologies that may distract from a child’s education. 

HSE senior Kate Lantzer had the opportunity to be a guest interviewer on journalist Larry Lannan’s podcast, Larry in Fishers. All potential school board candidates were invited to attend. All members who ended up being elected declined the invitation.

“It’s very interesting that four of the candidates who were elected refused to come to our podcast,” Lantzer said. “I think it speaks a lot that you’re on the school board but don’t want to talk to kids and see students’ perspectives.” 

With these new officials in place, things will change, from edits to the student handbook to larger-scale transformations around our high school and school district. All four of the newly elected school board members protested teaching CRT in schools, citing the potential indoctrination by teachers of young students.

“I think reducing CRT will lead to more narrow ways of thinking,” HSE senior Dominic Loew, who voted in this year’s election, said. “It helps give a more nuanced understanding of our complicated and bizarre history, so I feel it should be supported throughout our district.” 

Contrary to what one may think, CRT does not aim to disenfranchise white people and their role in past oppression and segregation towards minorities. An article from Brookings asserts that CRT “states that U.S. social institutions are laced with racism embedded in laws, regulations, rules, and procedures” (Ray & Gibbons). It is not CRT’s goal to guilt white people for their role in systemic oppression, but to educate them and prevent it from happening again. 

Many people remain uninformed on what CRT is, though, which leads to the consistent propagation of falsehoods surrounding its role in education. Before people – school board members to citizens – decide what they think of CRT, they should learn what it is. 

“I don’t really know what critical race theory is,” senior Suhita Chintalacharuvu said. “I do know that it was a very hotly debated opinion among our school board candidates.” 

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