Report: 1.3M Teachers, 100,000 Professors Now Under 'Educational Gag Orders'
o far this year, 110 bills seeking to restrict discussion of race, U.S. history and LGBTQ people in schools and colleges have been introduced in state legislatures, and 10 became law, according to a new report from the free-speech watchdog group PEN America. Added to the 20 such bills passed in 2021 and 2022, and 10 executive orders and state agency mandates, there are now 40 legal restrictions on educator speech in 21 states.
PEN estimates 1.3 million K-12 teachers and 100,000 public college and university professors are now affected, as are millions of students.
The analysis traces how proponents of what PEN calls educational gag orders have adjusted their tactics over the last three years. The authors say this reveals both rising public opposition to the laws and efforts by the restrictions’ right-wing backers to steer around political flashpoints. As a result, they say, they expect more — and more draconian — bills in 2024.
“What we have seen this year is that the people who are advocating for these laws are not going to stop because the poll numbers are bad, they’re not going to stop because some parts of the laws have been struck down by the courts, they’re going to continue,” says Jeremy Young, program director of PEN’s Freedom to Learn initiative. “They’re going to continue to evolve these laws in more and more insidious ways.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/report-1-3m-teachers-100-000-professors-now-under-educational-gag-orders/ar-AA1kbweb
= new reply since forum marked as read
