Since the Black Lives Matter protests erupted last summer, we’ve been in the midst of a national moment of reckoning around our painful history of racial exclusion. This has been driven in part by brave young people asking tough questions and speaking out for justice.

But in Republican-led states across the country, Legislatures have been responding by trying to ban teachers and students from even having the conversation.

New laws and bills under consideration in states like Idaho, Texas and Oklahoma would ban teachers from teaching about current events like Black Lives Matter, or even talking about systemic racism.

Kids should be learning to think critically in school - and to understand the full history of our country, even the painful parts.

And our politicians should be focused on helping students and teachers who are still struggling with fallout from COVID--rather than punishing teachers for speaking the truth.