DES MOINES, IOWA (July 10, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading a fourteen-state coalition in a brief defending Arkansas’s law preventing indoctrination in K-12 schools.
In May, a federal court partially blocked an Arkansas law that bans indoctrination in schools. The law does not prevent teachers from instructing on any ideas or theories, but it does prevent schools from punishing kids for not accepting those ideas, such as critical race theory. Arkansas is appealing that decision to protect students and an educational environment that promotes the free exchange of ideas.
“As a mom, I know how important it is that we create a healthy culture for our kids to learn and grow,” said AG Bird. “And most schools and teachers do an amazing job at that. But when education turns into indoctrination, parents have a right to push back.”
The States make the case that the federal district court’s decision relies on outdated precedent that wrongfully removes parents and local school boards from the conversation about setting school curriculum and is no longer good law.
Iowa led thirteen states in the amicus brief and was joined by Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
Read the full amicus brief here.
