The Impact of Anti-CRT Laws and Rhetoric on Teacher Well-Being

• In Event: Classrooms Under Fire: Teacher Well-Being, Student Belonging, and the Politics of Schooling

Abstract

Following the summer 2020 racial reckoning, conservative political actors championed anti-equity policies branded as anti-CRT. The resulting restrictive, politicized environment profoundly impacts teachers’ daily work and professional identity. This article examines how anti-CRT/DEI legislation and the accompanying rhetoric, within the broader context of pandemic recovery, affected the well-being of K-12 educators in Texas. We explore how these attacks on public education undermined teachers’ professional autonomy and efficacy, left teachers feeling disrespected and unsupported, and increased their stress. Our study highlights how politics, just as much as direct policy, seeps into the classroom and influences teachers’ ability to not only effectively do their jobs, but to remain committed to the profession.

Authors

• Michaela Pernetti, University of Texas at Austin

• Danielle Sutherland, Towson University

• Emily Germain, Learning Policy Institute