The largest teachers’ union in America is using lawsuits to attack a mother who seeks to uncover critical race theory teachings in public schools. Rhode Island parent Nicole Solas is being sued by the National Educators Association in response to her repeated attempts to find out what her daughter would be learning in kindergarten. The union is claiming that they are seeking to protect teacher privacy after Solas filed hundreds of public records requests.
Parent seeks answers
Nicole Solas began submitting her public records requests after hearing that the principal of the elementary school which her daughter would be attending wanted the school to use “gender inclusive pronouns” for children.
Since then she has expanded her campaign to an attempt to find out exactly what other left wing doctrines students at the school would be taught.
The focus for the endeavor quickly became critical race theory, a subject which has incited furious debate across the country in recent months.
The information being sought by Solas covers a wide range of topics and challenges specific concerns that she and other parents might have about the curriculum.
Public schools have generally avoided referring openly to critical race theory due to the anger which the term has often stirred up in local parents and taxpayers.
While schools might deny the teaching of critical race theory, many teach effectively the same doctrines without including the contentious label.
Teachers sue to protect records
The people suing Nicole Solas have realized that her strategy challenges these specific points and that this line of questioning will not be as easy to dodge as questions about critical race theory.
The teachers union maintains that the national anger surrounding these teachings means that teachers themselves would be endangered if the records were made public.
Solas maintains that these teachers are public employees and that parents have a right to see what the state is attempting to teach their children.
School board members have accused her of working to undermine and cause harm to the district and teachers by bringing national media attention to the area.
The South Kingstown School Committee, which decided to not file a lawsuit against Solas, is now a co-defendant in the suit filed by the National Educators Association.
Solas is being represented by the libertarian Goldwater Institute, which attacked the suit as an attempt by the union to intimidate her.