Lawmakers: Senate passes 'divisive concepts' education bill on Day 27

The Georgia Senate passed a controversial bill that would prohibit teachers from teaching “divisive concepts” in the classroom.

Senate Bill 377, sponsored by Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia), passed 32 to 20 in a party-line vote. The bill has faced strong criticism from not only Democrats, but also from educators and students. 

Hatchett said that banned topics included teaching that the U.S. is fundamentally racist, that one race is superior, that individuals should feel responsible for the actions of other people of the same race, and that individuals are consciously or unconsciously racist because of their ethnicity. 

Democrats pushed back and said that the bill is unnecessary and could stifle important classroom discussions on race and history. 

“Nothing in kids’ schools is about making them feel responsible for things in the past,” Sen. Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) said. "It’s about making them responsible for the future."

Sen. Kim Jackson (D-Stone Mountain) pointed out that by banning discussions of past systemic racism, SB 377 is an example of current systematic racism. 

“This bill, in the process by which it was written, introduced, and ultimately may be passed, it will become in and of itself a prime example of a systemic racism, a systemic racism that is being enacted before our very eyes — not in the past, but now,” she said. 

Hatchett said that while the divisive concepts he named are not being taught in schools, he introduced the bill to prevent those concepts from making their way into schools. 

“There are people who criticize this bill and say that these divisive concepts should be taught, and the fact that that rhetoric is out there, the fact there's point zero one percent of the population that believe those divisive concepts should be taught in our school, is argument for why this bill is right,” he said. 

SB 377 is one of several Republican bills aiming to address school curriculum regarding race and history. A bill containing similar language to ban “divisive concepts” in schools passed the House on March 4.

Another Republican-led education bill passed the Senate on Friday. SB 357, sponsored by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), allows students from military families to attend schools in neighboring school districts. The bill passed 37 to 11.