A day after announcing she will run for governor in 2022, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin Thursday unveiled the membership list of her new “Task Force to Examine Indoctrination in Idaho Education.”
Members include an Idaho Freedom Foundation employee, a charter school leader who pushed to use the Bible in public schools and a reverend who appears to be a North Idaho Evangelical Christian leader.
A political philosophy professor and a former Idaho State Board of Education president have also joined the 14-member assembly.
The task force, aimed at rooting out alleged “teachings on social justice, critical race theory, socialism, communism, (and) Marxism” from public schools, will be co-chaired by McGeachin and Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, who entered the race for lieutenant governor. McGeachin has joined a group of national and state Republicans lambasting critical race theory in the classroom, most recently heralding her new task force as she announced her gubernatorial bid on the steps of the Idaho Capitol yesterday.
Critics, including State Board President Kurt Liebich say they’ve seen little evidence of widespread “indoctrination.” The State Board plans to conduct its own review of free speech concerns, outside of McGeachin’s task force.
“When we throw these umbrella terms around without defining them, then accuse the entire system of indoctrinating kids, that’s a pretty dangerous narrative,” Liebich told EdNews last week. “If the Idaho citizen believes that, because of that narrative, it will undermine the support for our public education system.”
Idaho Education News asked for the names of the task force members Monday in a public records request. It was returned Thursday evening when a press release including the membership list was sent to reporters.
https://www.idahoednews.org/school-policy/mcgeachin-announces-indoctrination-task-force-members/