A group of students and educators filed a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma House Bill 1775, which Governor Stitt signed in May.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Oklahoma, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and pro bono counsel Schulte Roth and Zabel LLP on behalf of plaintiffs the Black Emergency Response Team, the University of Oklahoma Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the Oklahoma State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Indian Movement, Indian Territory on behalf of itself and its members who are public school students and teachers, a high school student, and Oklahoma public high school teachers Anthony Crawford and Regan Killackey.
Killacky, an Edmond Public Schools teacher, said “H.B. 1775 limits my ability to teach an inclusive and complete history within the walls of my classroom, ultimately restricting the exact type of learning environment all young people deserve — one free from censorship or discrimination.”
The lawsuit argues that the bill limits students' and teachers' First Amendment right to learn and talk about race and gender issues and prevents an open and complete dialogue about American history.
“All young people deserve to learn an inclusive and accurate history in schools, free from censorship or discrimination,” said Emerson Sykes, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “HB 1775 is so poorly drafted — in places it is literally indecipherable — that districts and teachers have no way of knowing what concepts and ideas are prohibited. The bill was intended to inflame a political reaction, not further a legitimate educational interest. These infirmities in the law are all the more troubling because the bill applies to public colleges and universities, where the First Amendment is especially protective of academic freedom.”
For more information about the lawsuit, click here.