If in order to reclaim our schools we are counting on radical leftist educators to obey laws banning lessons and professional development from incorporating controversial ideas such as Critical Race Theory (CRT), LGBTQ activism, or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), we will be very disappointed. 

First, a note on DEI itself. The effort to eliminate DEI is well underway, but the extent to which it will be successful is highly questionable. DEI should be understood as a mindset, and thinking of it this way helps us recognize the depth of the problem it poses to America and our posterity. As we have already seen, some of the people who have held the DEI positions that have now been terminated have just been reassigned, if not put on paid leave. While these “former” DEI employees may not be able to openly express their DEI-mindset in their “new” positions, their work and decisions could quietly reflect it, and make an impact that lays the groundwork for when DEI returns, and one day, it will return. 

For most DEI activists, they understand that over the next four years, they will leave their effort on a simmer, not turning off the heat, just turning it down for a little bit until the next administration comes in that allows them to turn it up again. This attitude towards change is part of what has allowed radical leftist educators to have been so successful over the years. In addition to the much-needed money and time their supporters are willing to give, they have patience and they are willing to work towards their goal, even if it is not immediately within reach. Instead of retreating and giving up, these educators are working right now, just as hard as they have been, to get around the legislation as much as they can and be prepared for when it all changes with a future administration. 

With executive orders, everything can be undone and redone. This is why relying on the administration in the White House to effect long-term change is a futile effort. With The Locke Society, however, we are aiming to build a network of teachers and administrators that will hold their ground regardless of the administration in the White House. No matter what the White House changes, a conservative or moderate teacher will be able to maintain a steady classroom that is designed the way they want it, free of any interference from the latest trending pushes in education. Underestimating the power of the teacher has been a major disadvantage to those seeking educational reform on the right. Leftists, on the other hand, recognize the power that teachers have in their classrooms and they have taken advantage of supporting each other, and the agendas they have in their classrooms. 

Leftist activist educators continue to prove and broadcast time and time again that they do not care about legislation that tries to control what they teach because they know the power to ultimately run their classrooms rests in their own hands.

In response to legislation that has attempted to stop them from promoting their agendas, radical leftist activist educators proclaim that they will still teach what they want to their students, even if it has to be under the radar, which might not even be necessary given that modern teaching methods can get around much of the legislation. The first step in recognizing why this is the case is understanding that the days of teaching from textbooks and rote note-taking are long gone and student-centered inquiry-based learning has taken over. 

One of many examples of this can be found in a Learning For Justice (formerly known as ‘The Intolerant’ Teaching Tolerance) in which a teacher is told to use a modern teaching method to teach her agenda in the classroom without making it look that way. The teacher writes, “I was—and am—scared to death of teaching about the issues and the candidates. If I simply tell the truth about both, I am risking the wrath of everyone in the school community who might be looking for someone to scapegoat or for something to complain about. My principal suggested I teach using the Socratic method by asking the students questions and allowing them to discover the truth for themselves.” 

More on why bans are ineffective can be found in our article Bills Banning CRT Are Misleading and Dangerous.

As we wrote in 2020, if teachers are “banned” from teaching certain content, they will just incorporate it in a way that remains under the radar. The only way to know if a teacher is sneaking in banned content is to be in the classroom with them at all times, but this is not a viable solution because of a myriad of issues. See our other past articles, ‘Woke’ Teachers Are Working on the Inside and Project Veritas Proves the Power of the Teacher to Implement DEI for more examples.

The other trick teachers use to get out of reprimand is to say that they are not actually teaching Critical Race Theory, which is what they claimed when the controversy first emerged.

In video after video posted by outlets such as Libs of TikTok and Eyes Inside the Classroom, leftist educators state over and over again that they do not care about the laws trying to stop them from pushing their far-left agendas, boasting that they will not comply and will proudly break the laws, if necessary. 

Due to the fact that these laws are written by individuals who have had severely limited experience in modern classrooms, if any at all, they are unable to make an impact on progressive educators and what they teach. Given the fact that within much of the legislation it states in the guidelines, “to the best of the teacher’s ability,” teachers who sneak in banned content are likely to be free of ridicule. A teacher will always be planning “to the best of his/her ability,” and using the resources available is “the best” they can do right now, especially with the limited time they have to plan their lessons. Most, if not all, of the leading educational resources that are usable for teachers today contain the controversial content that has caught on more and more over the last five years, whether it be woven into a text or into a question from a lesson or unit plan.

Another reason why bans are ineffective is because leftists with any level of involvement in education are always willing to help each other out and are usually creative enough to do so. It must be understood that the people who are trying to be “banned” from teaching certain content are in a highly creative profession where their work is largely based on their ability to maneuver around the obvious, not only to challenge themselves, but to challenge their students in an intellectual arena.

The American Library Association (ALA), for example, is a great friend to teachers and one with enough wit, and resources, to help in these circumstances. The ALA is writing articles to advise teachers on how to provide materials many parents believe to be banned. 

Other examples of educators ignoring and/or getting around the laws include: 

A leading figure in the fight against the far left’s influence in schools, Christopher Rufo, even admitted that simply passing laws is not only ineffective, but is actually burdensome.

In fact, no laws seem to matter to the very far left. For example, despite the law, in the summer of 2020, many leftist activists, including some teachers, were openly stating that the destruction of property, robbing, looting and other such actions were acceptable, even suggesting that they were not acts of violence. Those who supported such activity claimed that the people engaging in the violent acts were justified due to the “oppression that they endured under capitalism and systemic racism,” an assertion that did not come out of nowhere. This wave of violence was not the first time that radical leftist educators have blatantly ignored the law and turned out to become highly influential figures in the profession.  

In the 1960’s and 70’s, groups of radical leftist students took it upon themselves to say “laws be damned, we are changing this country.” Some of these students formed groups like the Weather Underground who quickly went from protesting, to rioting, to acts of domestic terror. In the following decades, these students went on to become professors and educational philosophers. Their radical ideas of support for disobeying the law have been promoted by far left organizations that have existed for decades, and who provide a large portion of the teacher training and educational materials used in schools across America today. 

Are we willing to bet the future of our nation on the belief that a group of educators who have been encouraged by these law-defying people to make their students and themselves become “agents of change” are now going to obey the laws with which they do not agree? If you are willing to take that bet, you must do research. 

The Zinn Education Project, a leading far left organization founded upon the ideas of America critic Howard Zinn, has gained more members from Florida, the state that appears to have banned all implementation of lessons reflecting “social justice,” CRT values and the like. Just some parts of Florida where teachers have joined the far left group include Orlando, Gainesville, Jupiter, Tampa, Apopka, Odessa, Pensacola, and more. 

Here is an example of a teacher using a Zinn Ed Project lesson successfully:

They have even found a way of getting the banned books back in their hands in Florida, with the help of some publishers and committed organizations: 

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Florida has also hosted a conference to coach teachers on incorporating “difficult topics” while in “pursuit of academic truth.” This conference has partnered with the Zinn Education Project, the NCSS and others. 

The real problem that we face is that conservatives and moderates are not the ones who control power in any relevant educational institution. On top of that, the leftist educators that conservatives are trying to take on are, in many cases, much more committed to their cause of dismantling our country and its founding principles than those who want to protect it. 

This culture war and the war for our schools will not be won in the state House, governors’ mansions, or even in affluent D.C. suburbs with former White House officials and lobbyists. It will be won in classrooms, administrator’s offices, school libraries, the guidance office, and even in school hallways and cafeterias, both in public and private schools. If conservatives and moderates do not have a presence inside schools as respected faculty and staff, all other efforts to save our nation and preserve our way of life will fail.