In a recently settled lawsuit, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) agreed to remove its mandate that schools implement “woke” teaching requirements.
Pennsylvania officials’ “Culturally-Relevant and Sustaining Education Program Framework Guidelines” (CR-SE) mandated that schools follow a set of guidelines on how to teach.
The recommendations required educators to “design learning experiences and spaces for learners to identify and question economic, political, and social power structures in the school” and educational “disrupt harmful institutional practices, policies, and norms.”
In April 2023, the Thomas More Society, a religious legal organization, sued the PDE on behalf of a group of public school districts and parents who claimed the mandate infringed upon their First Amendment rights.
In November, the PDE consented to revoke its CR-SE rules and resolve the lawsuit.
Thomas Breth, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, said in a statement, “We are extremely pleased with this settlement agreement, which forces the Pennsylvania Department of Education to rescind the state’s ‘Culturally-Relevant and Sustaining Education’ guidelines – securing an important victory for Pennsylvania parents, students, and teachers.”
“Our agreement is a triumph against the Department’s blatantly ideological and illegal attempt to inject ‘woke’ activism into school curricula across Pennsylvania, which demanded educators affirm their belief in these ideological tenets and then impose the same upon their students,” Breth said.
Days following the settlement, the government released new recommendations under their “Common Ground Framework,” but schools are no longer obliged to follow them.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, PDE emphasized their new guidelines in response to questions over the settlement.
“PDE is proud to offer this resource as an improvement on previously issued guidance, with an expanded focus on digital literacy, mental health, and trauma – real issues that impact those in all spaces of learning within every Pennsylvania community,” Erin James, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said in
According to the department’s website, the new standards urge teachers to “understand the importance of differences in marginalized learners and historically underrepresented groups,” including gender identity.
The state continues to push educators to “create an equitable learning environment by challenging and debunking stereotypes and biases about the intelligence, academic ability, and behavior of historically marginalized learners.”
