Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed into law that bans divisive concepts in certain areas of training.

These divisive concepts, like critical race theory, are banned from being included in diversity and inclusion training for schools and governmental entities. Other examples that the bill outlines as divisive concepts, include stating that the country or Iowa is systematically racist or that an individual based on their race or sex is inherantly racists, sexist or opperssive.

Greene County School District Superintendent Tim Christensen shares his initial reaction to the new law.

“Life is divisive. The thing that we need such a better job of teaching our children and our adults is how to deal with issues of this nature. Understand that you can have a debate about things and then walk away, being friends with each other, listening, understanding. Those are some skills that I think are extremely important that we need to teach our youth.”

Christensen disagrees with a fundamental aspect this law presents within the classroom.

“I think education in America, we’ve always prided ourselves is providing teachers with the opportunity to have control of their classrooms. Again, as government tells people what they can do, what they can’t do, I struggle with all of that. I’m kind of disappointed that we’re at that point that we’re telling teachers what they can teach and what they can’t teach.”          

Christensen adds every teacher has a curriculum and standards to follow from the state, but this new law may have gone too far. Click the link below to see the new law.

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=HF802