In one of the most heated Senate sessions of the 2022 General Assembly, a bill that would put in “guard rails” for how teachers teach American history passed the Senate along party lines.
“Considering what we have witnessed unfolding in school board meetings across our nation, I felt it crucial to address the United States history curriculum issue during this year’s legislative session,” said Senate Bill 138’s primary sponsor Senator Max Wise (R-Campbellsville).“What I found to be vital, though, was that we approach this topic from a stance of unity and positivity, and not by telling teachers what they can’t teach.”
Wise chose 24 core documents to be taught in classrooms. The idea for the documents came from the Ashbrook Center, a conservative center in Ohio that is “Creating Informed Patriots.” The list of documents includes “A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan and “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr.
However, the bill faced fierce opposition as opponents argued the bill would “whitewash” history lessons in Kentucky classrooms. Louisville Democratic Senator Morgan McGarvey questioned any document recommendations from the Ashbrook Center.
“If we’re going to be setting curriculum, we need to be honest about the place from which this curriculum comes,” McGarvey said. “No matter how well these documents are, or their place in history, they’re coming from a list provided by the Ashbrook Center … a right-wing educational center located at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.”
Sen. Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington) said that the texts don’t really teach history, but ideology. He also said that what the texts listed leave out important pieces of American history, such as slavery and the trail of tears.
Thomas and McGarvey noted the bill is set on teaching curriculum and not standards, and the General Assembly has argued for “local control,” and it should be left up to school boards.
“Mr. President, I think this bill sets a dangerous precedent,” McGarvey said. “We can call it what we want to, but this is a bill dictating curriculum, not standards. This bill dictates which documents can be taught.”
But, Northern Kentucky Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Taylor Mill) disagreed.
“We do our best to delegate as much as possible to our local school districts, but when we send over 40 percent of the commonwealth’s tax dollars into a system, and when we look at our constitution, we have every right to be involved in these decisions,” McDaniel said.
District 24 Senator Wil Schroder (R-Wilder) wondered if both sides read the same bill.
“So many of the arguments that I’ve heard today, I just scratch my head and say, ‘What bill are we looking at? Are we reading the same bill?’” Schroder asked rhetorically. “…I’ve heard a lot of debate today, but I haven’t heard anyone tell me why ‘The Mayflower Compact’ or the ‘Declaration of Independence’ shouldn’t be included in these standards. Go through the documents. What is wrong about these?”