1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Please vote “NO” on HR 8705. A public school censorship bill needs to be stopped! HR 8705, the so-called Civics and History Advancement to Restore Learning, Integrity, and Education Act (or CHARLIE Act), has been introduced, and targets evidence-based education. If this bill passes, public school students will be fed a sanitized version of American history — One that wipes away the harm Christianity has inflicted upon marginalized populations. This is our chance to fight back, and keep school teachers from being censored! HR 8705 (https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr8705/BILLS-119hr8705ih.pdf) reflects the rhetoric of Christian nationalist organizations that have spent years attacking secular public education, adopting language targeting what the Trump administration calls “discriminatory equity ideology (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/).” That vague language is designed to discourage or prohibit federally supported programs from discussing slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws and other longstanding inequities woven throughout American history, justified by dogmatic thinking. The bill also targets public schools, cracking down on inclusive curricula and LGBTQ+ students’ rights, hypocritically labeling these things as “indoctrination.”  Religious lawmakers are framing this bill as “protecting children” in an attempt to hide their true intentions. By targeting minority groups that don’t align with their personal ideology, they get one step closer to censoring teachers. Make no mistake — HR 8705 is an attack on secular education, and a disservice to public school students alike. The bill uses vague and ideologically loaded language to discourage educators from discussing the lived experiences of marginalized Americans or the continuing effects of discrimination. If this bill passes, religious extremists will undoubtedly take the opportunity to further control what’s taught in our nation’s schools, in hopes of actually indoctrinating students into their strict religious beliefs. This is a censorship bill that would crack down on factual teaching about race, gender, civil rights and the full complexity of American history. The bill also uses vague language designed to discourage or prohibit federally supported programs from discussing slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws and other longstanding inequities woven throughout American history. Rewriting history to sanitize the harm done to minority populations is robbing our nation’s students of learning the truth, and threatens their future by deliberately attacking critical thinking skills. Our children deserve better than this bill. Please reject it. Thank you.