Surya S

At school board meetings across the country in 2021, parents engaged in physical altercations, shouted at school board members and threatened them as well. These disagreements entered state politics, too, such as the 2021 Virginia governor’s race, which was largely shaped by conflicts over the how issues of race and racism are taught in the K - 12 curriculum, and transgender students rights. Our September 2021 article in Educational Policy, explains that the short-term conflicts that generate media attention – such as about critical race theory across the nation – are part of long-standing ideological debates about education. These conflicts are about issues such as who deserves academic opportunity, what the parameters of public education are and whether schools and universities ought to promote a positive image of the U.S. or explore its shortcomings. As researchers who study conflicts in eduction, we see clashes like these continuing into 2022.