Sunflower State News

Call it a Tale of Two Narratives. In Kansas, two versions of America’s founding are competing for time in classrooms. There’s the real story, which holds that the United States was formed by colonists who chafed under British rule and declared their independence on a hot summer day in 1776.

Then there’s the other story, which rewrites history and places race and slavery at the center of all things. In this version, America’s founding occurred in 1619, when the first African slaves landed on North American soil.

Kansas parents might have thought the controversy over critical race theory (CRT) was over when state education officials said CRT isn’t being taught here.

“In July the Kansas State Board of Education published a letter saying that critical race theory isn't and never has been part of the state’s educational standards,” the Topeka Capitol-Journal reports. “The board then pointed out that critical race theory is ‘not interchangeable with educational equity’ which is ‘evident in federal and state education policies’ taught across all schools in Kansas.”

Yet students throughout the state will be forced to learn history through the lens of the New York Times’ “1619 Project,” a thoroughly debunked revisionist of America’s founding. The project is replete with elements of critical race theory (and a whole lot of misinformation). 

“Parents are outraged that schools in Kansas and across the nation are indoctrinating their children with the ideology of critical race theory,” writes Dave Trabert of the Kansas Policy Institute. “And predictably—instead of listening—education officials are playing semantic games and trying to pretend that their insidious indoctrination techniques don’t exist.

Parents are understandably confused by the push for “equity” (uniformity of results, as opposed to equality, which means equal opportunity for all) in districts that also claim to not teach critical race theory.

They also have legitimate questions about their schools’ priorities, when the educators simply aren’t doing a very good job of teaching the basics. More students are reading below grade level than are college-ready. 

“Simply put, schools should educate, not indoctrinate,” says the Kansas Policy Institute’s Trabert. “It is for parents to decide how to talk to their kids about sensitive social issues like racism and gender identity. Schools should, as my grandmother used to say, ‘stick to their knitting’ and academically prepare students for college and career.”

The good news is that many concerned parents and community members are taking action where they can do the most good—the school board level. 

From the Wichita Public School district, which educates over 50,000 students, to the Circle Unified School District, which enrolls less than 2,000 students, school boards across Kansas are up for elections this fall. 

These boards maintain the ability to influence the curriculum taught and books read in the classroom, directly impacting kids each day. We place a lot of trust in the hands of these board members, and with great power comes a great responsibility to ensure the best path forward for our kids. 

Things must change, and that change begins at the school board level. On Nov. 2, thousands of school board seats will up on the ballot. Take the time to learn about the candidates in your district and their positions. The future of our state depends on it.

Brooke Rollins is president and chief executive officer at the America First Policy Institute and previously served as an assistant to the president and Director of the Domestic Policy Council under the Trump administration.