Pennsylvania rescinds woke CR-SE curriculum guidelines after getting sued by parents, educators and school districts

11/19/2024 / By Laura Harris

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has agreed to rescind its “Culturally-Relevant and Sustaining Education Program Framework Guidelines” (CR-SE) following a lawsuit brought by three school districts, educators and families.

In November 2022, the PDE implemented the CR-SE, which “requires educators throughout Pennsylvania to make acknowledgments of the ‘biases [that] exist in the education system,’ ‘microaggressions’ and ‘unconscious biases,’ among other ideologically tinted points.”

However, the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based nonprofit conservative law firm, argued that the framework “sought to mandate that educators affirm and impose on their students highly ideological beliefs about contentious social and political issues.”

Thomas More Society attorneys, on behalf of three public school districts and a group of parents and students, filed a lawsuit against the PDE in April 2023. The plaintiffs argued that the guidelines infringed upon First Amendment rights and violated state regulatory laws by compelling educators to adopt and endorse specific ideologies. (Related: Parents rally against Planned Parenthood and California school district for trying to infringe on their parental rights and pushing WOKE ideologies onto students.)

The mediated settlement, finalized on Nov. 13 and led by attorneys from the Thomas More Society, ensures that public schools, charter schools and other educational entities across the state are no longer required to implement or adhere to the CR-SE framework.

“Public schools, school districts, charter schools and any other school entities across the Keystone State will no longer be required to comply with the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s CR-SE guidelines,” a press release stated.

Members of the Thomas More Society celebrate victory against CR-SE

In line with this, Thomas Breth, Special Counsel for the Thomas More Society, hailed the settlement as a victory for educators, students and families.

“We are incredibly pleased with this settlement agreement, which forces the Pennsylvania Department of Education to rescind the state’s ‘Culturally-Relevant and Sustaining Education’ guidelines – securing an important victory for Pennsylvania parents, students and teachers. Our agreement is a triumph against the Department’s blatantly ideological and illegal attempt to inject ‘woke’ activism into school curricula across Pennsylvania, which demanded educators affirm their belief in these ideological tenets and then impose the same upon their students,” Breth stated.

Meanwhile, Peter Breen, the Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation at the Thomas More Society, stressed the importance of maintaining neutrality in educational standards.

“Educational standards should help students learn how to think, not what they must believe. This victory against Pennsylvania’s ‘woke’ curriculum mandate restores that opportunity for Pennsylvania families and teachers. Pennsylvania’s CR-SE curriculum guidelines commanded to students what they must believe and unconstitutionally compelled teachers to pledge loyalty to an ideological program,” Breen said.

Visit PublicEducation.news for more news about transgenderism in public schools.

Watch Leah Brooks encourage parents to pull out their children from public schools parroting LGBT ideology below.

This video is from the Counter Culture Mom channel on Brighteon.com.