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SIGN ONLINE PETITION
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The DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED until Friday, Nov. 12.
Please be sure to sign the letter ONLINE HERE
if you have not done so!
Thank you.
LEGISLATIVE ALERT
The Georgia General Assembly will consider a bill in January to ban Critical Race Theory in Georgia schools. Grassroots activists have worked with legislators and legal experts to craft a strong bill to eradicate Critical Race Theory and similar destructive ideologies from K-12 public schools in Georgia.
Dear Georgia friends, parents, and concerned citizens,
As we saw last night in Virginia, voters soundly rejected critical race theory and the politicization of education by electing Republicans to all three statewide offices, including the first Republican governor since 2009.
Across our own state, many of us have been horrified by the divisive agenda taking over our children’s education, including the influence of Critical Race Theory (CRT), which has infiltrated K-12 education in Georgia and is becoming widespread (see the attached letter for more detail). We support the teaching of the founding philosophy and values of the United States of America and the objective and accurate teaching of history. CRT directly conflicts with these noble goals and seeks to destroy the things that unify us as a nation.
We, the undersigned, have met with Georgia legislators and school board members, consulted with policy experts, and studied legislation that has been introduced or passed in other states to address this issue.
The attached open letter (scroll down to see the letter) to the leadership of the Georgia General Assembly and House and Senate education committees outlines the necessary components of an effective legislative approach to reclaim our schools from the influence of CRT and urges our state elected representatives to get a bill with these components to the governor’s desk.
Lend your voice to the effort – sign your name to the attached open letter to Georgia’s elected leadership calling for a strong bill to reclaim Georgia schools from the heinous consequences of critical race theory!
It is the duty of the legislature to make sure that our state-run, publicly funded education system reflects the values of the communities it serves and does not become a racially discriminatory indoctrination apparatus.
Please let our Georgia legislators know you support this effort by adding your name here, and we will keep you in the loop about future actions you can take to advance this effort. Be on the lookout for those action items from [email protected].
PLEASE forward this email to your like-minded groups, friends, and neighbors in Georgia and ask them to add their names also!
Thank you in advance for joining us in this important effort.
Carolyn Garcia
Past Vice Chair
Georgia Republican Party
Past Corresponding Secretary
11th Congressional District GOP
Lydia Hallmark
Past Executive Officer
Paulding Republican Party
Past Executive Officer
Georgia Federation of Republican Women
Jim Jess
Chair
Franklin Roundtable
Jerry Kotyuk
Board Member Emeritus
Advisory Board Member
Franklin Roundtable
Kerry Luedke
Grassroots Activist
Katie Spee
Grassroots Board Member
Moms For Safe Neighborhoods
Rhonda Thomas
President
Truth in Education
Ye Sun Wiltse
Past President
Columbia County Republican Women
Past District Director
Georgia Federation of Republican Women
Grassroots Organizer
Below is the letter we are sending to legislative leaders. Signing the online petition will send a powerful message that we want a strong bill to rescue our children from the destructive and divisive Critical Race Theory ideology.
November 3, 2021
The Honorable Geoff Duncan, Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
The Honorable Butch Miller, President Pro-Tempore
The Honorable Mike Dugan, Senate Majority Leader
The Honorable David Ralston, Speaker of the House
The Honorable Jan Jones, Speaker Pro-Tempore
The Honorable Jon Burns, House Majority Leader
The Honorable Chuck Payne, Chairman, Senate Committee on Education and Youth
The Honorable Jason Anavitarte, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Education and Youth
The Honorable John Albers, Chief Deputy Whip, Senate Committee on Education and Youth
The Honorable Matt Dubnik, Chairman, House Education Committee
The Honorable Chris Erwin, Vice Chairman, House Education Committee
cc: members of Senate Committee on Education and Youth; House Education Committee
Re: Grassroots Expectations for Legislation to Oppose Critical Race Theory in Education
Dear Lt. Governor Duncan, Senators Miller, Dugan, Payne, Anavitarte, and Albers, Speaker Ralston, Representatives Jones, Burns, Dubnik, and Erwin,
For more than a year, the undersigned grassroots leaders, parents, and concerned citizens across the state of Georgia have been uncovering how the insidious practice of critical race theory (CRT) is co-opting our children’s education.
CRT ideology is being applied in schools across the country, with numerous examples of children and adults being divided into identity groups based on race, ethnicity, and sex. Some classroom teachers, so-called diversity officers and consultants, and other CRT proponents insist that systemic racism has caused black Americans to be oppressed at the hands of white Americans, who are all inherently oppressors by nature of their skin color. Children and education personnel are often pushed – and sometimes required – to call for the destruction of our American institutions such as civil rights, property rights, capitalism, and even our form of government in order to remedy the alleged injustice of the system. Individuals who hold dissenting views are often punished and shut down. This worldview has infiltrated all aspects of education to the extent that a focus on academic excellence is often compromised and replaced with radically divisive ideas and, in many cases, illegal discrimination. The General Assembly must ensure through strong legislation that we do not continue down this road in our state.
In Georgia, concepts of CRT and their practical implementation have infiltrated K-12 education and become widespread through social emotional learning (SEL), diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, culturally responsive teaching, and calls for “social justice,” “restorative justice,”
and “anti-racism.” Entities which inform and influence education are promoting this destructive worldview, including the Georgia Department of Education, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), COGNIA (the accrediting agency used by most schools in our state), the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI), ReThinkED, MindUp, and Second Step; student and teacher resources, surveys, training, and materials; and through professional organizations including the National Education Association (NEA), the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), the Georgia School Counselor Association (GSCA), and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).
We support the teaching of the founding philosophy and principles of the United States of America and the objective and accurate teaching of history. Educating children and training teachers through the lens of critical race theory, which holds that our systems of government and laws are irremediably racist and must be dismantled, directly conflicts with our shared American values and destroys the ideals which unify us as a nation: that all are created equal; that we have all been endowed with unalienable rights including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that we value good character, personal responsibility, respect, and tolerance; and that hard work should be rewarded.
Georgians oppose the application of CRT in our schools. A poll of likely Georgia voters conducted in June of 2021 shows that 81% agree children should be taught about the American Dream available to them and not that their destiny and inherent value is dependent on skin color – a position that crosses racial, gender, geographical, and even party lines with similar overwhelming majorities.
It is the duty of the General Assembly to make sure that our state-run, publicly funded education system abides by constitutional and statutory protections against compelled speech and racial discrimination. As concerned parents and citizens, many of us have seen the shocking examples of critical race theory ideology in the classroom, met with legislators and school board members about this issue, and studied legislation that has been introduced or passed in other states to address the problem.
The following components are necessary for an effective, constitutionally sound law, and we urge you to include them in a single piece of legislation and send it to Governor Kemp’s desk in the legislative session beginning in January 2022.
Legal foundation:
● The 1st Amendment protection against compelled speech, which applies to public K-12 school personnel, who are agents of the government
● The 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law
● Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion or national origin by public elementary and secondary schools and by recipients of federal funds, and
● State non-discrimination law including the Quality Basic Education Act
Necessary provisions:
1. Prohibition of compelled speech and discrimination preventing funds from being used to promote, and public education personnel from compelling, students or other personnel to adopt, affirm, adhere to, or profess ideas or practices in violation of Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Georgia non-discrimination law, including:
● That any race, color, sex, or religion is inferior or superior to any other,
● Adverse or advantageous treatment on the basis of race,
● Collective guilt or that anyone should feel psychological distress due to their race, and
● Race essentialism including that one’s moral character is determined by one’s race
2. Enforcement mechanism withholding state funding for public education institutions in which violations occur.
3. Curricula transparency requirement for schools to publicly list instructional materials and curricula used by each school on its website.
4. Cause of action for the state Attorney General, parents, guardians, students, and education system personnel to sue public education institutions in which violations occur.
5. Severability ensuring that if any part of the law is struck down, the other portions of the law remain in force.
Our strength as a nation and ability for people of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds to exist together in a civil society comes from each citizen understanding and holding to our nation’s founding principles and values. That is what makes us Americans, and what our children should be taught in schools.
Thank you very much for your consideration and your dedication and commitment to making Georgia the best place to live and raise a family.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Garcia
Past Vice Chair
Georgia Republican Party
Past Corresponding Secretary
11th Congressional District GOP
Lydia Hallmark
Past Executive Officer
Paulding Republican Party
Past Executive Officer
Georgia Federation of Republican Women
Jim Jess
Chair
Franklin Roundtable
Jerry Kotyuk
Board Member Emeritus
Advisory Board Member
Franklin Roundtable
Kerry Luedke
Grassroots Activist
Katie Spee
Grassroots Board Member
Moms For Safe Neighborhoods
Rhonda Thomas
President
Truth in Education
Ye Sun Wiltse
Past President
Columbia County Republican Women
Past District Director
Georgia Federation of Republican Women
Grassroots Organizer