Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders bans critical race theory in schools

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a flurry of executive orders on her first day in office Tuesday, including an immediate statewide freeze on government hiring and a ban on teaching critical race theory in schools.

Sanders, who was sworn in as the first female governor of Arkansas on Tuesday, vowed to make education reform the hallmark of her administration. In her inaugural address, she said schools need to "get back to teaching, reading, writing, math, and science," and that "the identity that truly matters is the one we all share an identity as children of God and citizens of the United States of America." 

To that end, one of the orders she signed in her first act as governor prohibits "indoctrination and critical race theory in schools." Critical race theory, or CRT, is a school of legal thought that analyzes how power structures and institutions have negatively impacted racial minorities in America. Concepts that are derivative from CRT, such as "white privilege," "systemic racism,' and "implicit bias," have appeared in classroom lessons around the nation and received fierce pushback from parents and conservative lawmakers.  

"As long as I am governor, our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world, not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda," Sanders said, vowing to be "Arkansas' education governor."  

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Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was sworn in as Governor of Arkansas on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Will Newton)

The Placentia Yorba Linda School Board in California discusses a proposed resolution to ban teaching critical race theory in schools, Nov. 16, 2021.  (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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"We will improve literacy for our youngest students. We will reward our teachers with higher pay. And we will empower parents with more choices so that no child is ever trapped in a failing school or sentenced to a lifetime in poverty," she promised.

Sanders also ordered an immediate freeze on hiring and promotions for all state government jobs.

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be sworn in as the first female governor of Arkansas on Tuesday.  (Sarah Huckabee Sanders)

"We are limiting the growth of government before government limits the growth of individual liberty," the newly sworn-in governor said. 

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Additionally, Sanders signed executive orders seeking a review of waste and fraud in unemployment benefits, ordering a report on cybersecurity in state government, instructing that state departments get approval from the governor before issuing new rule-making procedures to the Arkansas Legislature, requiring state offices, departments, and agencies to drop the word "Latinx" from official documents, and ordering an inspector general review of all previously issued executive orders to identify potential conflicts and limit government overreach.