Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro released the following statement in opposition to House Bills 327 and 322, which both aim to ban Ohio’s public schools from teaching so-called “divisive concepts,” after hearings in the House State and Local Government Committee Tuesday morning:
“The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is disturbed, disappointed, and disheartened by recent efforts to white-out American history by hiding the truth from Ohio’s children – depriving them of the world-class, truth-based education they deserve. For our children to thrive and become critical thinkers, we must trust Ohio’s dedicated educators to have age-appropriate conversations about the tough subjects, as they do every day in their classrooms now. No matter where they come from or what they look like, our kids need a well-rounded, intellectually stimulating school curriculum that celebrates all of Ohio’s history, including the countless contributions made – and challenges faced – by people of color in our state. Over my 30-year career as a Social Studies teacher, I have seen for myself that when our kids learn from the past, they can help build a better future for all of us.
Instead, cynical political operatives seek to divide and distract us from their decades of failure to fix Ohio’s broken school funding system that has left so many communities behind. As Ohio’s House and Senate leaders work to finalize the next state budget, OEA continues to demand fully and fairly funded schools that have the resources to meet every child’s needs and a curriculum that nurtures every child’s curiosity and honors their integrity, whether they are Black or white, Latino or Asian, native or newcomer. Ohio’s educators know we can’t lie our way around the hard truths; our children can handle them, and they deserve nothing less.”