Pennsylvania’s state education department will no longer require school districts to follow its initial guidelines that sought to confront racial and cultural biases in education and better prepare teachers to support students of color. The change comes after a conservative group challenged the guidelines in court, and it reached a settlement with the state agency on Nov. 13.
The lawsuit, filed by the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit conservative law firm based in Chicago, on behalf of school districts and families, took issue with the education department’s 2022 guidelines. They were implemented for the ongoing education of teachers—in educator preparation, during the first few years of their teaching career, and in continuing professional development—so they could examine their own biases and diversify their curriculum.
The updated guidelines borne out of the settlement are better than those that were in place before and “more accurately reflect what we’re trying to get at,” said Carrie Rowe, the deputy secretary of elementary and secondary education. She said this framework retains an emphasis on cultural awareness, but the department clarified language and added two new pieces to incorporate an emphasis on mental wellness and trauma-informed instruction.
Still, the agreement, which comes on the heels of a presidential election in which politically divided Pennsylvania ultimately favored Donald Trump, could serve as a bellwether for other states at a time when the country is experiencing a broader shift to the right.
Though it might not be an outright conservative win, it’s not exactly a conservative loss either, said Jonathan Plucker, an education policy professor at Johns Hopkins’ school of education.
“When stuff happens in Pennsylvania, it does tend to ripple through much of the rest of the country. The fact it’s happening there in a pretty high-profile way means lots of people are going to be watching and paying attention,” Plucker said. “This is not a minor deal, this is a pretty big deal.”
A settlement rescinds and replaces guidelines for culturally relevant teaching
The department’s original framework stemmed from a 2022 regulation adopted by the state board of education, which requires districts to offer professional learning focused on teaching diverse learners in inclusive settings. The settlement does not change the regulation, but it does alter what types of professional learning can now satisfy the requirement.
The original guidelines identified nine competencies for teachers, including reflecting on one’s own cultural lens, identifying and taking steps to address bias in the system, designing culturally relevant learning, providing equitable access to learn, and educating oneself on microaggressions and their impacts.
In a statement, Thomas Breth, one of the Thomas More Society attorneys, called the initial regulation “blatantly ideological” and an “attempt to inject ‘woke’ activism into school curricula.”
The new framework is an “effort to create an inclusive learning environment for all students,” according to the agreed-on guidelines, noting that the guidance on helping teachers handle issues surrounding mental wellness, use trauma-informed approaches to instruction, and employ technical and virtual strategies is necessary because those factors “can inhibit student success in the classroom if unaddressed.”
Now, cultural awareness is a competency within the framework, but the guidelines have grown to include the two other prongs.
“I believe that the plaintiffs’ concerns were really rooted in that First Amendment challenge that it could be construed through the wording of the competencies that the department was trying to impose a belief system on aspiring or current teachers,” Rowe said. “Understanding that that is not at all what we were attempting to do with these competencies, I think that’s really what allowed us to enter into a settlement agreement, where they could simply be reworded.”
Notably, Plucker said, the settlement did find common ground—an acknowledgement that a student’s background affects their learning. But the education department and the plaintiffs argued about what types of diversity matter.
With the settlement, the department has issued a new framework that aims to help educators “better understand and relate to” students experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, military-connected students, children of migratory seasonal farm workers, students with disabilities, and students who have experienced trauma.
“I don’t mind the fact that the second iteration is better than the first. I think that’s exactly what we try to teach our students as well—to listen to the feedback around them and make adjustments where it’s necessary,” Rowe said.
The framework is not required in districts’ professional development plans, and there is nothing stopping schools from using the old guidelines.
The lawsuit was filed in April 2023 on behalf of three western Pennsylvania school districts—Laurel, Mars Area, and Penncrest—with attorneys arguing that the regulations violated constitutional free speech protections.
The Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium, which helped pen the original framework, said it is reviewing the agreed-upon guidelines.
“PEDC remains ready to support efforts to ensure that every teacher is fully prepared to provide the best education possible for every student, regardless of their background,” the consortium said in a statement.
After a focus on DEI objectives, the pendulum is swinging back
Pennsylvania’s initial framework was part of a nationwide emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives that grew out of the racial reckoning of 2020, when the nation was confronting its racist past and how it persisted in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis—and others.
Culturally relevant pedagogy stems from a framework introduced in the 1990s on the type of instruction that helps all students—especially students of color—succeed academically, accept and affirm their cultural identity, and learn how to challenge inequities.
Plucker described Pennsylvania’s rescinded guidelines as “pretty typical” and not particularly “envelope-pushing.” Nationally, other schools and universities have made similar moves.
But DEI efforts have increasingly come under fire, with legislation in at least 18 states banning or restricting how schools can talk about race and relentless attacks on them from Republicans through the 2024 campaign. The pendulum is swinging back, he said.
“We certainly saw that happen with a lot of Supreme Court cases, affirmative action and things like that,” he said. “This all feels related to me. We moved in one direction, and now we’re moving back in the other. It’s going to be interesting to see where we end up.”
