JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A plan that would usher in new limits on race-related school lessons won final approval in the Missouri Senate on Tuesday, but the debate in the upper chamber could return in the spring.
Several Republicans raised various objections to the measure, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Manchester Republican, before the vote, raising the possibility that the House could amend the plan and send it back to the upper chamber for further consideration.
In addition to the restrictions on racial lessons, the legislation would also create a portal where the public can access school curriculum, syllabi and other materials.
The measure advanced to the House on Tuesday on a 21-12 vote, with two GOP senators who criticized the legislation — Sens. Mike Moon of Ash Grove and Jill Carter of Joplin — joining with all 10 Democrats in opposition.
Unlike earlier legislation, the bill approved Tuesday contains no mention of "critical race theory," which deals with systemic racism.
Instead, the new legislation, for example, would bar teaching “that individuals, by virtue of their race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, bear collective guilt and are inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by others.”
Moon said the legislation allowed students to be exposed to critical race theory through loopholes including independent study or through lessons in which there is a disclaimer that a school doesn’t sponsor, approve, or endorse the concept being taught.
“It sounds to me like there’s kind of an open door,” Moon said.
“It’s not airtight," Koenig said. “There’s probably small windows where some things can creep in.”
Republicans watered down the legislation in a bid to soften Democratic opposition.
Sen. Karla May, a St. Louis Democrat, said the Republicans were impeding Americans’ freedom to believe, read and write by approving “whatever this is.”
“Somebody told me it does nothing,” May said of the legislation. “If it does nothing, why do I need to pass it at all?
“We don’t pass policy that does nothing,” she said. “Some people pass policy because they want to get credit for doing something that appeals to a certain segment of individuals.
“But is that policy that you’re passing going to harm another segment of individuals?” she asked.
The legislation also includes a number of parental rights, including being able to access curricula, the names of guest speakers at the school, and information about collection and transmission of student data.
It sets up the “Missouri Education Transparency and Accountability Portal” allowing the public to access “every school district’s curriculum, textbooks, source materials, and syllabi.”
The package also requires the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a class for schools to teach about patriotism.
The legislation is Senate Bill 4.
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