In 2021, as conservative states across the country were passing laws to restrict the teaching of race in their classrooms, similar efforts in one very Republican state — Arkansas — never made it out of the legislature.
Newly sworn-in Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders moved to change that on her first day in office, using executive authority.
On Tuesday, soon after being sworn into office, Sanders signed an executive order requiring a review of state education rules and policies to see if any “promote teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as CRT,” or critical race theory. Any indoctrination found should be removed, she ordered.
Critical race theory is an academic construct that looks at the impact of systemic racism in American laws and institutions. The term has come to be used by conservatives as a catchall for any policy or lesson that deals with systemic racism.
Sanders’s order also barred teachers from delivering certain messages about race, such as that one race is inherently superior or inferior to another.
“As long as I am governor, our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world, not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda,” she said.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders sworn in as Arkansas governor
Before running for office, Sanders came to national attention as then-President Donald Trump’s press secretary. From the White House, Trump worked to amp up conservative opposition to teaching about race, and many states passed laws restricting what teachers may say.
But such legislation died in Arkansas. Lawmakers did pass legislation limiting discussion of race and sex in state employee training, including the view that the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist. It did not apply to schools. Then-Republican Gov. Asa Hutchison allowed that bill to become law without his signature.
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“The bill does not address any problem that exists,” Hutchinson said in a statement at the time, calling the measure “unnecessary.”
But conservatives have continued to press the issue, considering it powerful among GOP base voters, if not the general public. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has enacted a series of similar measures as he prepares for a possible presidential run.
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This week, Sanders also called on the legislature to pass school choice legislation that would provide funding to help students who want to attend non-public schools. She has called for teacher pay raises, improving student literacy and other education measures as well.
The state Democratic Party said in response that it would support measures such as higher teacher pay but rejected other elements of her education agenda.
“Arkansas Democrats stand with our teachers and know they are first and foremost much too busy grading papers, buying their own supplies, and making lesson plans to indoctrinate anyone,” the party said in a statement.
