Katie Hobbs Vetos GOP's Ban On 'Critical Race Theory'

by Caitlin Sievers, Arizona Mirror
March 9, 2023

Gov. Katie Hobbs has issued her 16th veto, nixing a bill that would have banned the teaching of critical race theory in Arizona schools. 

The measure, Senate Bill 1305, would have prohibited public K-12 schools in Arizona from a wide range of race-related instruction, including that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or ethnicity, is inherently racist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”

Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who took office in January, ran on a promise that he would get rid of CRT in Arizona classrooms. 

Critical race theory is a concept created by legal scholars positing that racism is embedded in the structures of society, and is not simply the result of individual bias. Though generally taught in post-secondary settings, CRT has turned into a catchall term that critics use to describe any sort of teaching about race. 

Ending instruction about racism in America has become a plank for the modern Republican Party in Arizona and across the country.

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