Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Files Motion To Dismiss Teacher’s Union Lawsuit Against State’s Anti-CRT Legislation

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

Last week, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office filed a motion to dismiss “with prejudice,” a lawsuit filed in federal court against the state of Tennessee and specifically the new State Commissioner of Education Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds. 

In July of this year, The Tennessee Education Association (TEA) filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of a law passed in the Tennessee General Assembly session in 2021 called “The Prohibited Concepts In Instruction Act,” or more widely known to most Tennesseans as anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) legislation. 

The legislation features a list of 14 divisive concepts that if intentionally introduced by educators through course materials and lecture to Tennessee students, could result in consequences for the educator. Those consequences are at the discretion of the LEA where the educator works and may not be imposed even if the educator is found to have willfully and with intent violated the law. 

The TEA contended in their suit that the legislation prohibits teachers from teaching core subjects, which are required by Tennessee state standards, and that the law is vague and doesn’t give teachers a reasonable understanding of what they can and cannot teach, specifically calling it “arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”  

The TEA alleges that because of the new law, “difficult but important topics” will have to be avoided so teachers can be sure that they do not suffer any consequences should they accidentally and inadvertently break the law. 

AG Skrmetti’s office responded to the suit in a motion that challenges the assertions made by TEA’s attorneys and asks for the suit to be dismissed because the TEA lacks standing even as a plaintiff.    

The AG’s office makes the argument that teachers cannot claim damages for hypothetical circumstances that may or may not result in possible negative consequences. No educator has in fact suffered any injury. 

TEA also falls short because their lawsuit assumes every breach of the law would result in disciplinary action. Considering the law includes a “scienter” requirement, or rather a culpable state of mind, which means there has to be proven intent that an educator purposely included materials or introduced concepts they knew were prohibited by the law. 

Also, the claim that the law is constitutionally vague, according to the AG’s response, is untrue because there is a myriad of constitutional applications from which to draw direction. The AG contends that any reasonable teacher would be able to objectively understand whether they were or were not crossing a boundary that could result in disciplinary action.   Generally, the law isn’t designed to be as prohibitive about what the educators are able to teach, in so much as how the material is presented.  

Also included in the motion to dismiss, the AG’s office points out that federal court should not be the place where state statutes are challenged and interpreted. Rather a more appropriate and more federalist approach to this issue would be to examine it in a state court where the interpretation of the law can be better construed. 

Finally, the AG asks for State Ed Commissioner Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds to be removed from the suit because she would not be the determiner of any possible consequences should a violation occur. As previously stated, the Local Education Agencies the educators work for would retain that discretion, and any “damages” claimed would be causally related to their direct action on the educator. 

Of note, the law does not prohibit materials that are imbued with these same divisive concepts, as well as discussions related to them, from being displayed in places and in other settings, like the hallways at the school and in school counselor offices where parents are finding the material is having an impact on their students. 

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.