Some members of the Hamilton County School Board aren’t happy about the district’s efforts to recruit teacher applicants from diverse backgrounds.
Board members Larry Grohn and Felice Hadden, both Republicans, practically melted down at a recent meeting.
What burned them up? The district’s policy that, according to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press:
Under the updated policy, educator diversity refers to a teacher workforce that “reflects a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic backgrounds and pathways into the profession.”
Grohn said the policy was “racist” and Hadden suggested the diversity was fine as long as the district didn’t spend too much effort or money on recruiting diverse candidates.
The whole issue was spurred as Hamilton County updated its diversity policy (to the policy noted above) in response to a state law requiring the dismantling of DEI efforts.
That dismantling included undoing a previous state law – also passed by Republicans – that required school districts to adopt a diversity policy.
