Tennessee teachers sue over “prohibited concepts” Tennessee law

Five public school teachers joined the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) to file a lawsuit challenging the state’s so-called “prohibited concepts” law, restricting what can be taught on race, gender, and unconscious bias in public classrooms.The lawsuit asks for the court to declare the law unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.“There is no group of individuals more passionate and committed to ensuring Tennessee students receive a high-quality education than public school educators,” said Knox County Educator and Tennessee Education Association President Tanya T. Coats. “This law interferes with Tennessee teachers’ job to provide a fact-based, well-rounded education to their students.”In 2021, Gov. Bill Lee signed the “prohibited concepts” bill into law. It allows funds to be withheld from school districts where teachers are found to be teaching prohibited concepts about racism.This could include concepts like “an individual’s moral character is determined by the individual’s race or sex” or ascribing “character traits, values, moral or ethical codes, privileges, or beliefs to a race or sex.”Oak Ridge Representative John Ragan was one of the Republican sponsors of the legislation.Chalkbeat Tennessee reported at the time that Ragan proposed the legislation after receiving an email involving a 7-year-old white student who was described as depressed and suicidal after a discussion in her school about white privilege.“To make tomorrow better than today for Tennessee, we as legislators and citizens must take a stand against hucksters, charlatans and useful idiots peddling identity politics,” said Ragan in a House Committee discussion on the legislation.The TEA’s lawsuit questions the vague language and the subjectiveness of its enforcement, saying it interferes with instruction on difficult yet important topics in the Tennessee State Standards which were developed and approved by Tennesseans.“Tennessee students will fall behind their peers in other states if this law stays on the books. We are already seeing school leaders make changes to instruction and school activities due to the risk of losing state funding, facing unfair repercussions or threats to their professional standing. TEA is committed to fighting for public school educators’ right to do their job and Tennessee children’s right to a fact-based, well-rounded public education,” said Coats.A spokesperson for the Tennessee Attorney General says the office has yet to receive a copy of the complaint.