The Tennessean: The Tennessee Education Association is suing the state over a 2021 law that regulates instruction on race and gender in classrooms
The Tennessean: The Tennessee Education Association is suing the state over a 2021 law that regulates instruction on race and gender in classrooms, alleging in a complaint the law is unconstitutionally vague and interferes with education on “difficult but important” subjects.
Five Tennessee teachers joined the TEA in the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday night in federal court.
“There is no group of individuals more passionate and committed to ensuring Tennessee students receive a high-quality education than public school educators,” Tennessee Education Association President Tanya Coats said in a statement. “This law interferes with Tennessee teachers’ job to provide a fact-based, well-rounded education to their students.”
Legislative Republicans passed the measure, often referred to as the “prohibited concepts” law, amid a national fervor over “critical race theory,” a decades-old academic theory usually taught in higher education that became a political lightning rod in 2021. The theory examines how legal and societal frameworks are affected by systemic racism.
