A new Tennessee law that bans “implicit bias training” in school took effect ahead of the new school year, which begins in the second week of August for most students.
HB015 bans school administrators from forcing teachers, faculty, and staff to be trained on implicit biases, which typically involves teaching that one race is inherently biased against another simply by existing.
Specifically, the law defines “implicit bias training” as “a training or other educational program designed to expose an individual to biases that the training’s [sic] or educational program’s developer or designer presumes the individual to unconsciously, subconsciously, or unintentionally possess that predispose the individual to be unfairly prejudiced in favor of or against a thing, person, or group to adjust the individual’s patterns of thinking in order to eliminate the individual’s unconscious bias or prejudice.”
The practice is now banned in Tennessee’s public schools and public institutions of higher learning.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Education Association (TEA), the state’s largest union, is suing Gov. Bill Lee (R) over a recently enacted “divisive concepts” law, widely known as an anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) bill.
Tennessee’s HB2670 bans teaching content that “promotes division between, or resentment of, a race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class, or class of people,” and teaching concepts that “ascribes character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges, or beliefs to a race or sex, or to an individual because of the individual’s race or sex.”
It also bars schools from discriminating against students who dissent from any doctrine included in the divisive concepts law.
“A student or employee of a public institution of higher education must not be penalized, discriminated against, or receive any adverse treatment due to the student’s or employee’s refusal to support, believe, endorse, embrace, confess, act upon, or otherwise assent to one or more divisive concepts,” the law says.
The TEA’s lawsuit says that without teaching divisive concepts, students are deprived of a quality education.
The lawsuit suggests that teaching about the history of slavery will run afoul of the “divisive concepts” law and says that the statute’s language is unconstitutionally vague.
“There is no group of individuals more passionate and committed to ensuring Tennessee students receive a high-quality education than public school educators,” said Tennessee Education Association President Tanya Coats, who is also a teacher in Knox County, in a TEA press release. “This law interferes with Tennessee teachers’ job to provide a fact-based, well-rounded education to their students.”
“Laws need to be clear. The prohibited concepts law conflicts with the state’s own academic standards and curriculum, which creates unfair risks to Tennessee teachers using state approved materials, following state standards, and providing fact-based instruction,” Coats said. “Educators have already spent countless hours trying to understand and navigate the law’s unclear requirements.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
