Teachers and school staff from across the U.S. discussed a rash of new bills by more than half of the country's state legislatures and many school boards to ban books and prohibit the teaching of "divisive concepts" from U.S. history.

The language of the bills is so vague that bans on topics like racism, teachers fear, could easily include lessons on massive topics like the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and treatment of American Indians, such as the Trail of Tears. Books about LGBTQ people have also been banned by several school boards, which is of particular concern to educators given the greater risk of bullying and mental health issues including suicide that affect LGBTQ students.

But many of the bills go beyond bans on racism, Critical Race Theory (CRT) or LGBTQ issues to forbid the teaching of any topic that might make students feel "badly" or sad about how Americans throughout U.S. history have treated each other.

Guests Jean Darnell, a school librarian from Texas and founder of AwakenLibrarian.com; José Vilson, founder of #EduColor and NYC math teacher, and Frederick Joseph, author of The Black Friend and Patriarchy Blues: Reflections on Manhood, joined Sari Beth Rosenberg, host and high school history teacher, along with dozens of educators across the U.S. to discuss the bills and laws that censor K-12 educators.

As with all Educator Voice Zooms, the educator audience played an active role throughout the conversation. The entire discussion is available below along with selected clips.

Full video of Zoom discussion

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"They're coming after us teachers for a reason" - Sari Beth Rosenberg, U.S. history teacher for 20 years

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Teacher question on how to invite all students to feel heard and seen

Joseph Frederick on helping students see themselves in material taught in class

Teacher question on best ways to reach students

Teacher statement on the unfair obligations some teachers have in school administration

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Jean Darnell praises student-focused orgs like EduColor and Project Lit

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José Vilson on the valuable work teachers do

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Sari Beth Rosneberg's final thoughts

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