The city school board tonight will consider opposing four state bills that the resolution calls harmful to people of color and LGBTQ individuals.
The bills are in the Pennsylvania House and Senate education committees. Both chambers are currently controlled by Republicans, though the Democratic governor-elect has veto power. All current members of the Pittsburgh Public Schools board ran as Democrats.
The resolution the board will vote on next Wednesday says the bills would “threaten the ability of the school district of Pittsburgh to build a culture of belonging that embraces differences, reflects our local community and allow all students and educators to be their authentic selves.”
One House bill called the Teaching Racial and Universal Equality (TRUE) act is aimed to curtail educators from teaching the concept known as “critical race theory.” The board resolution calls House Bill 1532 a way to “prohibit our educators from accurately teaching history, improperly bans anti-bias training, and would make culturally relevant teaching nearly impossible.”
The resolution says that two bills devalue students and families of color and LGBTQ students and families. Senate Bill 1278 and House Bill 2813 would prohibit classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.
“It is imperative that we ensure that parents have the right to be informed about the services offered to their children at school and that elementary school children are protected from inappropriate sexual content in our classrooms,” according to the SB1278 memo.
The fourth bill the resolution would oppose would give parents more control of materials their children are exposed to. Senate Bill 1277 would require schools to identify sexually explicit content in curriculum, materials, and books and notify parents before it is shared in class.
A memo from Republican Senator Ryan Aument said parents have called his office complaining of sexually explicit content in assignments, though no examples were provided.
Board member Devon Taliaferro who chairs the government relations committee said during the board's agenda review meeting Wednesday that the resolution was brought to the board's attention by constitutents.
"We want to make sure that our legislators that are looking to bring harm and to remove learning opportunities and growth for our students, I think it's important for [the board] to stand up," she said Wednesday. "As the second largest district in the state of Pennsylvania, I hope that other districts follow in our footsteps if we are to pass this resolution."
If approved, the board will deliver the resolution to the sponsors of the bills, the elected representatives of the district and members of the committees.
