Culturally Relative and Sustaining Education and the Pennsylvania’s Department of Education Infringement on Teachers, Students and Parents
By Amy Krahe
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has sent down 9 new competencies for professional development called Culturally Relative and Sustaining Education. In this amendment, the PDE has developed 9 new competencies for the professional development of teachers. Schools are required to be in compliance by July 1, 2023. Three school districts including: Mars, Penn Crest and Laurel, along with teachers, school directors and parents have filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Education claiming that these guidelines are trying to tell parents and students what to believe, are unconstitutional, and never went through a regulatory process. The state has threatened withholding subsidies from the school districts if they do not comply.
The issues with these competencies are layered. Under Competency 2, CRSE2.F states “Disrupt harmful institutional practices, policies, and norms by advocating and engaging in efforts to rewrite policies, change practices, and raise awareness.” This calls on teachers to operate outside of their role. School boards have been elected by their community members to not only set policy for the district but also have oversight of the curriculum. This instead requires teachers to challenge and remove curriculum as they see fit, destroying the ability to have uniform curriculum across each grade level. Parents and the public have a right to view curriculum. Giving teachers the ability to remove or add to the lessons without a standard, challenges the parents and the public’s ability to have access to materials.
Under Competency 6, CRSE6.E states “Identify systems, structures, practices, and policies that exclude and marginalize BIPOC [Black and Indigenous People of Color] and multilingual families, families living in poverty, and families with varying sexual orientations and gender identities.” This oversteps the roles of the parent and requires that teachers insert themselves to influence students politically instead of educationally. This is just another way that the public education system is teaching students what to think instead of how to think.
Under Competency 9, CRSE9.A states “Believe and acknowledge that microaggressions are real and take steps to educate themselves about the subtle and obvious ways in which they are used to harm and invalidate the existence of others.” This is an illegal requirement to force teachers to “believe” in microaggressions. The first amendment protects the rights of individuals to have control over their own belief system.
The public needs to be aware of what the Pennsylvania Department of Education is trying to do. Please contact your local school boards and ask that they do not comply with CR-SE. Next contact your legislators and require that they push back on this overreach.
