After intense debate and lots of community input, the Utah State Board of Education is preserving its own rule requiring “educational equity” for all students. But the board could be changing it in the near future.
After about 45 minutes of public comment and 2 hours of board discussion on Jan. 11, the board voted 8-7 in favor of keeping the rule.
Community activist and director of 1Utah Project Darlene McDonald had been a vocal proponent of the rule, saying it helped both students and teachers, and spent the entire day at the board meeting. She gave public comment in support of the equity rule around 9 in the morning and didn’t leave until around 7 at night, after the board voted.
When the vote came down, it was emotional for McDonald. She turned to another supporter and hugged him.
“As you can see from my tears, I'm relieved and hurt at the same time that we're here having to fight this fight,” she said. “And that it came so damn close.”
The rule is not just symbolic, McDonald said, but a tool educators and schools “use to help them be able to deal with emerging social issues.”
Two state lawmakers claimed the rule conflicted with a new state law that outlines how schools can and can’t talk about oppression and bias. Three board members agreed and proposed it to the full board.
During the board’s discussion before voting, members who supported repeal argued the equity rule was against state law, that it did not have the effect intended when it was created in 2021 and that the board should have a “better” rule to support students. Some said it was just a messaging rule that restricted schools, and that it doesn’t do anything to prevent racism or handle bullying.
Those who voted in favor of keeping the rule referenced the large volume of input they’ve received from the public and educators.
“From my perspective, I have never heard from so many people. And I can count on barely two hands the amount of people who want to repeal this rule that we've heard in public comment,” board member Sarah Reale said.
The equity rule was clearly important to some parents and many educators, supporters said.
Of the board members who voted against repealing the rule, some still wanted to change it. Board member Molly Hart didn’t want to get rid of the rule if they had nothing to replace it with because it would leave educators with no guidance on this issue.
Board member Cindy Davis proposed changing the rule so that it matches the language in the 2023 law exactly. This includes saying that any teacher training must be consistent with certain principles, like that “no individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely by virtue of the individual’s race, sex, or sexual orientation.” And that the meritocracy is “not racist” and individuals are not responsible for what other people have done in the past just because they share the same race or sex.
Those proposals were not enough to get those in favor of repeal on board with keeping it.
After the board voted to keep the rule, they discussed how they could change it. Board member Jennie Earl proposed taking out the requirement to give teachers educational equity training.
But as the night got later and the discussion went on, the meeting devolved into confusion about what changes were being proposed and board members appearing to lose focus. The board voted to postpone discussions about changing the rule to their next meeting, which is scheduled for Feb. 1.
