McLean County Times

A group of Bloomington-Normal educators are insisting that critical race theory (CRT) teachings are not in the district’s immediate curriculum plans.

“First of all, it’s not part of any K-12 teaching and learning standards, so that’s one big reason” McLean County schools Superintentendent Kristen Weikle told The Pantagraph of why the teaching won’t soon be offered in the schools.

“It is not in the Illinois State Learning Standards, which govern what is taught in Illinois schools,” said Superintendent Barry Reilly. Assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Diane Wolf added “nor has it ever been discussed to be part of our curriculum.”

In the face of parent protests turning out at a recent school board meeting to speak out against CRT, school officials said they still can’t figure out why so many members of the community assumed critical race theory was part of the curriculum, even after Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed off on House Bill 2170, known as the Education and Workforce Equity Act, creating a 22-member Inclusive American History Commission to review education resources to reflect racial and ethnic diversity.

“I get that these issues are hot topics right now in the community and we hear them, but we need to be able to come together and talk about them in a more civil manner,” Reilly told WGLT.org. “Critical race theory is not in the state learning standards so it is not in our curriculum. When it comes to critical race theory that is something I think people really need to educate themselves about because I think that there are some misconceptions.”

The issue of CRT instruction has become a hot-button issue with critics of the system arguing it promotes divisiveness and leads to segregation.