On Wednesday, January 12th, Kentucky students and educators gathered at the Capitol in Frankfort to speak out against two legislative bills that could disrupt classroom conversations about ideas having to do with what many people consider core elements of their identities.
House Bill 14 includes vague language that would penalize public school teachers for instruction “that incorporates designated concepts related to race, sex, and religion,” but does not explicitly mention what specific topics teachers are prohibited to discuss. In addition to House Bill 14, House Bill 18 extends the ban on instruction and discussion of these concepts to public colleges and universities.
The “Stop the Teacher Gag Bill Rally” mobilized education stakeholders to actively oppose the passage of House Bills 14 and 18.
The event was organized by Defenders of Accurate History, a Facebook group consisting of educators from across Kentucky.
Three students from the Kentucky Student Voice Team spoke at the event, including Pragya Upreti, a senior at Lafayette High School in Lexington. Upreti presented the early research findings from the team’s Race, Ethnicity, and School Climate Survey that garnered over 10,000 responses from Kentucky middle and high school students.
“Though the overwhelming majority of students considers race and ethnicity to be an important element of who they are, at least a third report that their teachers ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ teach about people of different races or ethnicities in class,” she said.
TaMyra Johnson, a junior from Fern Creek High School in Louisville, expressed concern for the broader impact of learning incomplete history in school: “When you don’t teach honest history, [students] don’t get a sense of their identity, and they can’t really flourish into their real self. If we don’t see people that look like us, hear the full story of how they lived, learned, and navigated injustice, how can we heal?
“If we don’t see people that look like us, hear the full story of how they lived, learned, and navigated injustice, how can we heal?”
The rally represented Johnson’s first public speaking event, and when she finished addressing the crowd, she was reflective on the power of the platform. “I was really nervous, but it felt really good. I felt heard, especially when the audience reacted [to my speech]. Everyone was there for the same cause, [so] you really do feel heard.”
Kentucky Student Voice Team members indicated that their presence at the rally, and absence from school, was a necessary sacrifice in order to take part in the much larger fight for students to be heard and understood.
“I am here today because I wanted to listen. I wanted to [be] able to learn from students directly about what this legislation means to them,” said Louisville resident, Laney Taylor, who attended the rally in support. “I am so grateful to be a part of a movement that listens to students and uses their expertise for wisdom.”
Arivumani Srivastava, a high school senior from Bowling Green and the Kentucky Student Voice Team’s legislative coordinator argued that the bills undermine core civic values. “House Bills 14 and 18 seek to limit the discussions that can be had around race, sex, and religions in our classrooms that are critical to creating a more informed democracy,” he said. “Race, unfortunately, played a huge part in America’s history. So in order for us to progress forward from that, we need to learn. We need to teach students how to have conversations about race constructively.”
“Race, unfortunately, played a huge part in America’s history. So in order for us to progress forward from that, we need to learn. We need to teach students how to have conversations about race constructively.”
The Kentucky Student Voice Team plans to continue their opposition to House Bills 14 and 18, with a primary focus of centering student experiences in conversations about culturally-relevant teaching and learning.
“We deserve to be heard, and we deserve nothing less,” said Upreti.
