After O.C. school district bans critical race theory, it faces Cal State Fullerton backlash
A school district in Orange County, Calif., has banned the discussion of race and oppression of women in the classroom.
The Cal State Los Angeles School District, one of two districts in the city of Fullerton, announced the move in February. The action was taken after a student filed a complaint that teachers in the school district were using critical race theory, a controversial view that emphasizes the need to promote “positive multiculturalism” on campus.
Cal State Fullerton is the school system of a well-regarded university in Orange County. Students, staff and faculty have raised concerns about the ban on the use of critical race theory and other approaches to teaching.
The Fullerton school system is not the only school district to have banned critical race theory from classroom discussion. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, just over half of the U.S. public schools in the “most challenged” category of “high-need” schools, which are underperforming and have persistently high dropout rates, were also categorized as “white” schools.
In a May 9 letter to the school board, the center’s Education Research Report stated its support of the district’s decision and emphasized the need to discuss “the relationship between race and socioeconomic disadvantage.” An open letter signed by several faculty and faculty members at Cal State Fullerton and other Orange County schools followed, arguing that the ban on critical race theory was a violation of free speech and academic freedom.
Cal State Fullerton faculty and administrators agreed to hold a campus-wide meeting on the issue as well as an open forum with students on Tuesday.
The meeting is part of a five-week series dedicated to discussions around race and equality, which were to include interviews with faculty, administrators and students, as well as guest speakers, and a public lecture.
“The university community has long supported the use of critical race theory in the classroom,” said Dr. Michael Burt, associate vice president