A Black high school principal in Fort Worth, Texas, who was suspended weeks back over allegations he was teaching critical race theory to high school students, has been forced to retire.
According to NBC News, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District board of trustees voted Monday to terminate Dr. James Whitfield’s contract.
“This is beyond me,” he told the network. “I’m hopeful that we can use this to move forward and to progress and get some true meaningful change and for people to be OK with teaching truth, people to be OK with embracing inclusivity and diversity, celebrating every student that walks through the doors of our schools.”
Whitfield has always denied teaching his students CRT.
“There’s no credence to the CRT claims,” Whitfield told The Washington Post following his September suspension. “This group that has spoken out against me has a problem with inclusivity, with embracing diversity and with providing equitable experiences for all students.”
In July, the Texas Senate passed a bill which no longer requires Texas public schools to teach the history of the Ku Klux Klan or that the group’s white supremacy is “morally wrong.”
The latest Senate Bill 3 is a response to Critical Race Theory and The New York Times’ controversial 1619 Project and states that the “history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong.”
The bill also specifies that teachers may not “be compelled” to discuss current events or “controversial issue[s] of public policy or social affairs” and that if they do, they can’t give “deference to any one perspective.”
Whitfield will remain on paid administrative leave until August 2023.
“Both the District and Dr. Whitfield each strongly believe they are in the right. However, each also agrees that the division in the community about this matter has impacted the education of the District’s students,” a joint statement from both parties reads. “The District and Dr. Whitfield have mutually agreed to resolve their disputes.”
