A survey conducted for one of Illinois’s largest teachers’ unions finds overwhelming support for teaching children about slavery and racism in the U.S – and similarly strong opposition to banning certain books.
The poll for the Illinois Education Association comes in response to some political claims that schools are harming students by teaching “critical race theory.”
The IEA notes that critical race theory is a concept in higher education and is not being taught in K-through-12 schools.
But the union’s survey finds that 77% of those surveyed favor teaching students about slavery and its impacts, and 72% support honest discussions of the history of racism in the U.S.
A further 75% oppose any effort to ban certain books from Illinois school libraries.
