Vote NO on HB 3979

I’m Sarah Alarcón and as an educator, I’m writing to ask you to vote NO to HB 3979. This bill borrows language from the Trump executive order on critical race theory and anti-bias training, prohibiting schools and teachers from “being required to engage in training, orientation, or therapy that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex.” It’s impossible to teach human history, especially our own nation’s history, without discussing how stereotyping on the basis of race and sex has affected us. What the sponsors of this bill want is to limit free speech in schools and to keep students from learning how to navigate our representative system of democracy. I urge you to raise vocal opposition to this bill; if there’s any expertise I can offer as an educator to assist with opposing this bill on the floor, I would be glad to. We can truly progres and heal as a nation once we begin to acknowledge the atrocities of the past. Thank you for making sure we teach all of history, not just the white man’s perspective.