Letter to the Editor: No Legislative Instructions for Teachers!

The recent American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) conference stirred up fear of race as a topic in K-16 education, labeling it “CRT” [critical race theory]. Wisconsin may soon expect a bill that will look remarkably like other one-size-fits-all bills across the country that are designed to restrict not only the materials that are used in the classroom, but also the behavior of teachers and professors. 

Such bills should be ruled unconstitutional, but long before we spend money in legal disputes, I hope that citizens will object that they are unnecessary.

As a former professor who worked with colleagues in education at two very different campuses of the UW, I am confident that such laws are unnecessary because as a rule, our teachers and professors do not see judgment of others’ moral character as part of their mission as teachers. Their role is to bring about understanding through the presentation and discussion of the best research their discipline offers.

The law currently sponsored by ALEC is based on multiple misunderstandings, one of which is the claim that so-called CRT is a recognized discipline. It is rather a label intended to prevent serious discussion of the role of race in human history. That is sad!

Please contact your legislators to head off such misplaced fear and wasted energy.

Estella Lauter

Fish Creek, Wisconsin