Teachers and administrators in Austin-area schools are incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion talking points in their curricula, raising questions about whether such content conflicts with state law.
In video footage shared exclusively with The Dallas Express, an undercover investigation by Accuracy in Media (AIM) found that Texas public school staffers are working diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) elements into lessons. DEI can share a number of premises with critical race theory (CRT), an ideological framework that was banned in Texas public schools under HB 3979, which was passed in 2021.
Although both CRT and DEI involve discussions of race, the two terms can be different in meaning, according to Cherly Gary-Furdge, a professor of criminal justice and sociology at North Central Texas College.
“DEI training encompasses learning about others, so we don’t commit microaggressions or things that are insensitive about people who are different from us. It has nothing to do with being divisive, but everything to do with learning how to not hurt people,” Gary-Furdge claimed.
CRT, however, is typically defined as “an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of society — from education and housing to employment and healthcare,” according to the Legal Defense Fund. “Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is embedded in laws, policies, and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities.”
AIM, a non-profit news-media watchdog, has raised questions about whether the DEI-influenced discussions about race taking place in public schools have crossed the line into teaching CRT.
Acknowledging on hidden camera that CRT cannot be taught in Texas classrooms, Adrienne Aldaco, the interim director of DEI at Austin ISD, said, “We’re not allowed to teach that. … And so, it can’t be a requirement. However, I think that there are options. Our district is really big on inclusivity and diversity and equity.”
Austin ISD did not respond to a request for comment on whether Aldaco’s statements suggested educators in the district were violating Texas law.
Another Austin-area educator discussed how DEI, which is more typically used to inform employee training and race-conscious policy initiatives at private businesses and public institutions, was making its way into classrooms,
“There’s not formal DEI, but you know, we’re kind of incorporating it in the books we read and that kind of stuff,” said Deanna Perkins, a fourth-grade teacher in Leander ISD.
Leander ISD did not respond to a request for comment on how it aims to follow Texas’ CRT law.
Adam Guillette, the president of AIM, said his investigations into Texas schools show that the state’s CRT law has had little impact because of overly ambitious teachers and administrators.
“Having been in over 100 school districts throughout Texas, I can say that the anti-CRT law isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on,” Guillette told The Dallas Express. “These administrators will lie and deceive to push their ideology. They will avoid the law and trick the parents.”
“The administrators will always have a leg up on parents,” Guillette claimed. “This is a religion to these administrators. They’re breaking the law and lying to parents because they think it’s best for the children.”
The education content platform Newsela was also raised in the video footage. According to AIM, Newsela has “partnered with radical content providers such as the Zinn Education Project, the 1619 Project, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.” The 1619 Project is banned from use in Texas public schools under HB 3979. Guillette said Newsela presents “the exact same content” as the 1619 Project but under a different masthead.
Stephanie Harley, an equity officer at Austin ISD, said, “Newsela, I feel like, has the dimensions, and then there’s the nuance.” Later in the video footage, she mentioned another resource used for grades K-3 that she could not recall the name of. After a jump cut in the footage, Harley said, “It lets us stay out of trouble with the legislature.”
AIM has claimed that “the founder and CEO of Newsela, Matthew Gross, has been clear about how he hopes the platform will work – primarily by addressing Critical Race Theory.”
In an open letter to educators from 2020, Gross wrote:
“We must address two awful truths: that many Black students and educators are in pain, and that institutional and individual racism is pervasive within our schools. Now more than ever, it is our moral obligation to support those experiencing trauma and to cut racism at the root before it spreads outside the walls of our schools into larger society.”
A separate AIM investigation into San Antonio-area ISDs found that there was little concern over the Texas law banning CRT in schools. Marissa Cisneros Perez, the ELAR coordinator for Edgewood ISD, said, “We do not follow much of what Abbott is trying to get us to do.”
“The superintendent does what is best for the kids and not necessarily what is popular with the crowd … or with politics at the time,” she said.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law this year that bans taxpayer-funded universities from establishing DEI offices and programs, as reported by The Dallas Express. Guillette said Texas should also work to ensure the law applies to ISDs.
“If the legislators are serious about removing DEI in colleges, why allow them in K-12?” Guillette told The Dallas Express.