New Idaho education bill raises fears of banned books

BOISE — New education legislation was introduced in the Idaho House on Monday to try to allay fears about “critical race theory” being taught in Idaho schools and colleges — fears that earlier caused the House to kill both the public school budget for teachers and the higher education budget.

But it immediately aroused new concerns about banning books on Idaho campuses.

“Obviously, that’s not our intent,” said Sen. Carl Crabtree, R-Grangeville, who is co-sponsoring the new education bill, HB 375, with Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot. “If we have to amend the thing, we can do that.”

Young told the House Ways & Means Committee, “The purpose of this legislation is to provide for dignity and nondiscrimination in public education, and to establish fiscal policy relative to sectarian tenets.”

The new bill defines teaching “critical race theory” or related concepts as “sectarian” concepts, and says they’re therefore prohibited from Idaho schools and colleges by the Idaho Constitution. The Idaho Constitution, in Article IX, Section 5, prohibits any public funds from being used “in aid of any church or sectarian or religious society, or for any sectarian or religious purpose.”

The bill states, “The Idaho Legislature finds that tenets of sectarianism, such as ‘critical race theory,’ … exacerbate and inflame divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin or other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the nation and the well-being of the state of Idaho and its citizens.”

The bill also would forbid advocating for racist or sexist principles, or using any educational materials advocating them, in Idaho schools or colleges. It’s the ban on using materials that brought on the book-banning concerns.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, who objected to introducing the bill based on that clause, said she’s requested an Idaho Attorney General’s opinion.

“This all kind of got sprung on us,” she said, noting that she hadn’t seen the bill language before the Monday committee meeting at which it was introduced on a party-line vote.

“The language in here just says you can’t talk about it at all, from any perspective,” she said. “Maybe we’re back to banning Huckleberry Finn. There’s plenty of racist content in ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’ ... The fact that we can’t even put those books on a syllabus, it seems to put unmanageable restrictions on academic freedom.”

The bill also appears to ban the use of primary historical documents detailing the history of hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, including documents from the organization itself or its leaders or adherents; books by major historical figures such as Adolph Hitler’s “Mein Kampf;” and other works written throughout history by those who have advanced the philosophies of hate-based movements, even for use in studying their history, causes or prevention.

House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said late Monday that rather than amend the bill, “we’ll run a clean bill.”

“There are people working both in the Senate and the House to come up with some mutually approved language that is not offensive to free speech, etc.,” Bedke said, “and we’ll go from there.

“They’re not going to throw the idea away. They’re just going to try to refine it in a way that can pass scrutiny,” he said. “I don’t think you need to count on a book burning here any time soon.”

HB 375 is scheduled for a public hearing this morning in the House Education Committee, though that could change.

Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.