On Tuesday, September 22nd, Washington Policy Center published a new Policy Brief, with these Key Findings: 

1. On or about September 1, 2021, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) was expected to announce new learning standards in English language arts, history, social studies, math and science.

2. These new standards will lower the quality of Washington’s existing standards.

3. Disguised by the label “Ethnic Studies,” the new standards will replace Washington’s academic learning standards with controversial Critical Race Theory (CRT) content.

4. The new standards will present academic material according to four CRT domains: “Identity,” “Power and Oppression,” “History of Resistance and Liberation,” and “Reflection and Action.”

5. For example, in English, instead of teaching grammar, the new standards will teach the concepts of “White supremacy,” “Institutional racism,” “Structural racism,” and “White privilege.”

6. In math, the new standards will teach math is used to oppress communities of color.

7. These standards will encourage students to take “Action” according to the requirements of CRT and social justice.

8. School officials are now using the CRT rationale of “equity” to deny students of all races access to advanced study and gifted programs and to replace tests previously required for entry to college with lower, race-based criteria.

9. State lawmakers should discard these new “Ethnic Studies” learning standards and require that state officials maintain high learning standards for students.

10. State lawmakers should also repeal regressive legislation passed in 2021 that mandates the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K-12 public schools, at public colleges and universities, and at medical schools.

 Click here to read the full Policy Brief.