North Carolina's Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson has said that a report published by his office shows that state public school teachers are "abusing" their positions to indoctrinate kids.
On Tuesday, Robinson's office released a report on a task force inquiry entitled
Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students (FACTS). His office spearheaded the inquiry after it received reports alleging cases of indoctrination in North Carolina public schools, the FACTS report said.
The FACTS report has been released just as Republican legislators in the state are trying to pass a bill banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools. CRT is a field of study that analyzes race and racism as social dynamics throughout history. Republicans have called it "divisive."
"What this is, is an attempt to stop the abuse of the teaching profession by a few who are using that profession to put undue pressure on young minds," Robinson said of his inquiry. "Those are the folks that are abusing that privilege, and that is what this is about, about ending that."
Robinson's FACTS inquiry established a website where people could report instances of alleged indoctrination in schools statewide. Overall, the final FACTS report compiled information on 500 allegations.
The report said it found six predominant types of alleged indoctrination happening in schools: people afraid of retaliation for reporting indoctrination efforts, the sexualization of kids, critical race theory, white shaming, biased news media reports incorporated into lesson plans and the shaming of conservative and Republican political beliefs.
A volunteer panel of educational experts examined reports submitted to Robinson's office to determine whether they warranted further examination. The full FACTS report doesn't say how many warranted further examination. The report only contains a handful of reports backed up by visual evidence.
Democratic State Senator Jay Chaudhuri criticized Robinson's report.
"We're spending time debating a Fox News-driven issue that's more about fear-mongering and has turned into a fishing expedition," Chaudhuri told Robinson about his FACTS inquiry, WNCN reported.
Robinson responded by saying the issue was non-partisan. Robinson said it was also important because some teachers have cried to him about their fear of being fired for speaking out against their colleagues' indoctrination efforts.
As of August 13, 12 states have enacted bans that either restrict the teaching of Critical Race Theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, Education Week reported. A total of 26 states total have introduced similar legislation.
Some Black educators have resigned after being accused of teaching CRT in their classrooms. Some received death threats. Other educational professionals nationwide have said they have had to change lesson plans, diversity initiatives and training modules for fellow educators over fears that conservatives will accuse them of trying to push CRT.
Newsweek contacted Robinson's office for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
