Critical race theory (CRT) is banned from being taught in schools across Arkansas after newly sworn-in Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order on her first official day in office Tuesday.
“Schools must educate, not indoctrinate students; and their education policies must protect children and prepare them to enter the workforce… Teachers and school administrators should teach students how to think—not what to think,” the executive order stated.
The order gives the state’s Department of Education the power to prevent indoctrination and critical race theory from being taught to Arkansas students. It also prohibits employees and students from being forced to attend training and orientations on critical race theory. It will also empower parents to make decisions for their children and “foster curriculum transparency in classrooms across the state.”
Sanders’ order describes critical race theory as “antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness. It emphasizes skin color as a person’s primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject.”
The order also directs the Secretary of the Department of Education to “review the rules, regulations, policies, materials, and communications” of the department to “identify any items that may, purposely or otherwise, promote teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies” such as critical race theory.
Sanders, the former White House press secretary under President Donald Trump, was sworn in on Tuesday as Arkansas’ 47th governor.
As governor, one of her top priorities would be education reform legislation. She wants to focus on improving literacy, pay raises for teachers, school safety measures, and some form of using public money to pay for private schooling or homeschooling.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.