In a significant ruling for conservative parents and school board members, a Californian judge has upheld a local school district’s ban on teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT). The court’s judgement also maintained a policy that mandates parental notification if a child opts to change genders at school.
Judge Eric Keen of the Superior Court of Riverside County supported the policies implemented by the Temecula Unified School District, which have faced criticism from Governor Gavin Newsom, activist groups, and the media. CRT posits that racism is ingrained in all American institutions.
Despite legal activists claiming teaching restriction violated students’ rights, Judge Keen denied their request for a temporary injunction. He found the district’s policy was clear and only limited the teaching of CRT rather than entirely ruling it out.
The judge also addressed the parental notification policy, stating that it was “gender neutral” and equally applied to all students in the district. Thus, it did not expressly single out transgender or gender-nonconforming students, but was applicable to any change request.
This ruling doesn’t impact a separate controversy where the district refused to teach an “LGBT-inclusive”, state-approved curriculum. Governor Newsom fined the district $1.5 million for this refusal. The recent ruling may have a ripple effect, influencing legal outcomes for other school districts defying Newsom’s transgender notification policy. Despite California’s liberal orientation, polls suggest that a significant majority of the state’s voters back the rights of parents to be informed.