Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Coppell Independent School District for allegedly violating state law by continuing to teach critical race theory to its students.
The lawsuit comes after the release of an undercover video from the Accuracy In Media group showing Evan Whitfield, the district’s director of curriculum, discussing how Coppell ISD disregarded state prohibitions on critical race theory (CRT) in the classroom.
In the video, Whitfield can be heard saying that while the district does not officially label the curriculum as CRT, it still allows lessons that reflect its principles. He also allegedly claimed that despite the Texas state standards, Coppell ISD takes the liberty to teach what it believes is “right,” even if it goes against state policies, according to a press release from Paxton’s office.
When asked about teachers potentially closing the door to teach CRT secretly, against state law, Whitfield appeared to respond by saying, “Shh, that’s what we do.”
The video also reveals Whitfield bragging about using “Next Generation Science Standards,” a curriculum not approved by the Texas State Board of Education. Previous attempts to introduce other similar materials focused on “environmental education” have been rejected by the Education Board, adding further fuel to Paxton’s lawsuit against the district.
In a statement, Paxton condemned the actions of Coppell ISD officials, accusing them of pushing divisive and racially charged ideologies in violation of Texas law.
“Liberal administrators who want to ignore state law and unlawfully push divisive and racist CRT curriculum in classrooms will be held responsible for their actions,” Paxton said. “Texas children deserve to receive the best education in the world, not have woke ideology forced upon them. My lawsuit aims to put an immediate end to this illegal and hateful curriculum and immediately stop the blatant refusal to follow state law by certain officials at Coppell ISD.”
Coppell ISD has not yet issued an official response to the lawsuit as of the time of publication.