Rosangel Flores-Rubio
Earlier this year, House File 802 was passed through the Iowa Legislature. The infamous bill has set off debates amongst politicians, teachers and administrators.
Earlier this year, House File 802 was passed through the Iowa Legislature. The infamous bill has set off debates amongst politicians, teachers and administrators, forcing them to evaluate the current training in place.
HF 802 prohibits the mandatory trainings contracted or facilitated by a public school district or higher-level education from teaching that “fault, blame, or bias to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex, or claiming that, consciously or unconsciously, and by virtue of persons’ race or sex, members of any race are inherently racist or are inherently inclined to oppress others, or that members of a sex are inherently sexist or inclined to oppress others” (Iowa Code 279.74)
“The superintendent must ensure ‘any curriculum or mandatory staff or student training provided by an employee of the school district or by a contractor hired by the school district does not teach, advocate, encourage, promote, or act upon specific stereotyping and scapegoating toward others on the basis of demographic group membership or identity, ” The Iowa Dept. of Ed clarified.
The bill also discusses specific divisive concepts in student and faculty training that must be avoided. Including that the United States of America and the state of Iowa are fundamentally or systemically racist or sexist, That an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex, and any other form of race or sex scapegoating or any other form of race or sex stereotyping
What is allowed is academic discussions on how to redress oppressive systems, as long as no student or faculty is being asked to bear responsibility for it. Teachings on systems in the U.S that were used to oppress historically are not prohibited, as long as the statement of America being fundamentally racist or sexist is not stated.
Since then, the Iowa City Community School District has put forward the following statement in regards to House- file 802. Received from Director of Equity and Employee Relations, Eric Howard.
“On June 8, 2021, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill that prohibits “divisive concepts” from diversity training in Iowa schools, public universities, and government agencies. The bill goes into effect on July 1, 2021. We understand that there are questions regarding how this will impact our staff training and the ability to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion topics in our classrooms.
We want to provide clarification about how the legislation will impact the Iowa City Community School District. Most importantly, this legislation will not stop the diversity, equity, and inclusion training in our District. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion training for staff would not be considered a divisive concept because it does not “teach, advocate, act upon or promote” that an individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive due to their race or sex. Our District has dedicated over six consecutive years to diversity training for our staff, including Implicit Bias and Cultural Proficiency. Our training focuses on helping all educators better understand how to manage the dynamics of diversity, and how to do the internal work to show up appropriately with all our students.
Our cultural proficiency training is wrapped in restorative practices and refrains from isolating one entity as the root cause of the systems of inequity that currently exist. We are proud of our work around diversity, equity, and inclusion within the District. We are committed to continuing this important work which is critical to our growth and our ability to recognize and respect all perspectives. If you have questions, please reach out to the District’s Diversity & Cultural Responsiveness Office at (319) 688- 1000,” Eric Howard, ICCSD Director of Equity and Employee Relations, said.