The State Board of Education ruled against the appeal today of a Dallas Center Grimes parent in a test of the new law banning critical race theory and social justice from school curriculum.
Shelly Flockhart asked for a review of songs, poems, videos, articles and book excerpts used by an English teacher as supplemental teaching material. “My son has suffered concrete harm, exclusion from discussions, exposure to unlawful material after my request for non-exposure, and transfer to online learning,” Flockhart says.
Flockhart says the school board circumvented the law by only reviewing textbooks used in the curriculum. “As far as the current material, imagine instilling fear in teens of segregation in Iowa, a state that never allowed slavery, or shaming them to racism they’ve never harbored. Teaching past mistakes as current realities reverses progress,” she says.
The attorney for the Dallas Center Grimes district, Jasmine Bolt, says the administrative law judge was right to deny Lockhart’s request. “This case is not about whether the districts selected the right books or whether this curriculum is balanced. This case is about process. Whether the district followed the law, adhere to its policies, it made reasonable decisions,” Bolt says. She says the law only requires a review of the three textbooks that were challenged. “Those are the only instructional core materials under the definition in the statute, so poems, articles, other supplemental materials are part of lesson planning, and they fall outside of this process under subsection two,” she says.
Board member Brian Kane told Flockhart she made some good points, but says they are subject to provisions of Iowa law, which the district followed. “I believe that the process was followed according to the code section cited in the ALJ’s proposed decision. I do not think there was an abuse of discretion,” he says.
Board member Todd Abrahamson says he understands the arguments, but says lawmakers need to review the bill again, because the word balance is implied, but isn’t in it, and that creates gray areas. “Well, that’s difficult. So I think they need to go back and review their bill because I see where you’re standing from, and because this will continue,” Abrahamson says.
It is one of the first tests of the new law on curriculum. Flockhart can appeal the decision to the district court.
