Louisiana governor issues back-to-school order banning critical race theory in K-12 public classrooms

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed an executive order Tuesday preventing the use of critical race theory in Louisiana’s K-12 public education system. 

The governor’s office said Critical Race Theory (CRT) includes “divisive teachings that instruct students to view life through the lens of race and victimhood” and Landry believes students should be learning about “American exceptionalism and the principles embodied in State and Federal Constitutions of the United States of America that recognize the equal value of every individual.” 

“This executive order is a much-needed sigh of relief for parents and students across our state, especially as kids are heading back to school,” Landry said in a statement. “Teaching children that they are currently or destined to be oppressed or to be an oppressor based on their race and origin is wrong and has no place in our Louisiana classrooms.” 

“I am confident that under Dr. Brumley’s leadership our education system will continue to head in the right direction, prioritizing American values and common-sense teachings,” he added. 

The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) unanimously voted in January to reappoint Dr. Cade Brumley as Louisiana State Superintendent of Education. 

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The executive order says, “inherently divisive concepts, like Critical Race Theory (‘CRT’) and its progeny instruct students to view the world through the lens of race and presume some students are consciously or unconsciously racist, sexist, or oppressive and that some students are victims.”

The governor’s office says those “inherently divisive concepts are antithetical to America’s founding ideals of liberty, justice, equality, opportunity, and unity among its people.” 

The order cites Act 326 of the 2024 Legislative Session as having “codified that parents of public school children have the right that a school shall not discriminate against a child by teaching the child that he or she is currently or destined to be oppressed or to be an oppressor based on the child’s race or national origin.” 

Jeff Landry, then attorney general of Louisiana, speaks during a Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee hearing on Thursday, March 30, 2023.  (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Landry directed Brumley to continue to review rules, bulletins, regulations, contracts and policies within the Department of Education and take action to eliminate or, if necessary, report to the Board of Elementary and Second Education any such materials that endorse theories that “an individual by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” 

A notebook and pencil on a desk in a school classroom (iStock)

Brumley, who has served as State Superintendent since 2020, is also instructed to report any content that promotes the belief that “an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex” or that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.” 

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The order bans materials that claim “meritocracy or traits such as a strong work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race or sex to oppress another race or sex” or “encourage students to discriminate against someone based on the individual’s color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or any other characteristics protected by federal or state law.”