Critical Race Theory Banned In Cobb County Schools

COBB COUNTY, GA — The Cobb County School District Board of Education members approved a resolution Thursday — along party lines — prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory or The New York Times' 1619 Project curriculum.

Board Chair Randy Scamihorn said he brought the resolution forward after the Georgia Board of Education banned the use of critical race theory in Georgia schools last week, as well as after seeing several district employees claim on social media to have already used the theory in their classrooms.

Critical race theory is an academic concept that says racism is not just about individual biases or prejudice, but about how racism is embedded into the states' and country's legal systems, policies and practices.

Related: Critical Race Theory Slated For Cobb School Board Thursday

The four Republicans on the board, including Scamihorn, voted in favor of the resolution. The three Democrats abstained from voting.

The resolution states the district "will not implement critical race theory, also called CRT, in our schools, not under that name nor any other name, nor will we be using The 1619 Project in our schools, not under that name nor any other name."

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale had already issued a statement on critical race theory in late May.

"As long as I am superintendent, I will commit to keeping any theory or curriculum, which is not part of Georgia's standards, out of every Cobb County classroom," Ragsdale said in the statement.

This is not the first district in the state to ban the teaching of CRT or The 1619 Project in schools. Cherokee County School District passed a similar resolution to Cobb Schools in May, and the Forsyth County Board of Education said in a statement that its schools would not teach CRT.