Abstract
This article draws from primary and secondary historical sources such as public policy documents, speeches, and media reports to trace attempts made by the Kentucky legislature to ban controversial topics in public school curriculum—evolution in 1922 and critical race theory in 2022. Kingdon’s multiple streams framework (MSF) serves as the model for this historical and contemporary comparative education policy analysis.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alexander
K.
Alexander
M.D.
(2012 ). American public school law (8th ed. ). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning .
2.
Allen
H.
(1926 ). The anti-evolution campaign in America . Current History , 24 (6 ), 893 –897 .
3.
Ansell
A.
(2008 ). Critical race theory . In
Schaefer
R. T.
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of race, ethnicity, and society (Vol. 1 , pp. 344 –346 ). Sage . https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412963879.n138
4.
Baumgartner
F. R.
Jones
B. D.
(1991 ). Agenda, dynamics, and policy subsystems . Journal of Politics , 53 , 1044 –1074 .
5.
Béland
D.
(2016 ). Ideas and institutions in social policy research . Social Policy and Administration , 50 (6 ), 734 –750 . https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12258.
6.
Béland
D.
Howlett
M.
(2016 ). The role and impact of the multiple-streams approach in comparative policy analysis . Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice , 18 (3 ), 221 –227 . https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2016.1174410.
7.
Brown
P. R.
(2020 ). Framing, agency, and multiple streams: A case study of parks policy in the Northern Territory . Australian Journal of Political Science , 55 (1 ), 55 –71 . https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2019.1669532
8.
Carlson
T.
(2021 , July 6 ). Commentary: If you question critical race theory, crazed idealogues will attack you and hurt your children . Tucker Carlson Tonight , Fox News . https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-critical-race-theory-crazed-ideologues-attack-hurt-children
9.
Clement
S.
(2021 , November 5 ). McAuliffe’s quote on schools a clunker . Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/05/mcauliffes-quote-schools-was-clunker-polls-suggest-parental-backlash-didnt-swing-election/
10.
Crenshaw
K.
Gotanda
N.
Peller
G.
Thomas
K.
(Eds.). (1995 ). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement . The New Press .
11.
Daviter
F.
(2007 ). Policy framing in the European Union . Journal of European Public Policy , 14 (4 ), 654 –666 . https://doi.org/10.1080/13501760701314474.
12.
Delgado
R.
Stefancic
J.
(2017 ). Critical race theory: An introduction . New York University Press .
13.
Driver
J.
(2018 ). The schoolhouse gate: Public education, the Supreme Court, and the battle for the American mind . Pantheon Books .
14.
Ellis
W. E.
(2011 ). A history of education in Kentucky . University of Kentucky Press .
15.Exec. Order 13950, 85 Fed. Reg. 60683 . September 22 , 2020 .
16.
Feingold
J.
(2021 ). POV: What the public doesn’t get: Anti-critical race theory lawmakers are passing pro-CRT laws . Boston University Today . https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/pov-anti-critical-race-theory-lawmakers-are-passing-pro-crt-laws/
17.
Fortune
A. W.
(1922 ). The Kentucky campaign against the teaching of evolution . The Journal of Religion , 2 (3 ), 225 –235 .
18.
Gershberg
Z.
Illing
S.
(2022 ). Paradox of democracy: Free speech, open democracy, and perilous persuasion . University of Chicago Press .
19.
Greenblatt
A.
(2022 ). Public schools’ challenges . CQ Researcher , 32 , 1 –29 . http://library.cqpress.com/
20.
Halliburton
R.
(1968 ). Kentucky’s anti-evolution controversy . The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society , 66 (2 ), 97 –107 .
21.
Hannah-Jones
N.
(2021 ). A new origin story: The 1619 project . One World .
22.HB 14, 2022 Biennium, 2022 Reg. Sess. Ky . 2022 . https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/hb14.html
23.HB 18, 2022 Biennium, 2022 Reg. Sess. Ky . 2022 . https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/hb18.html
24.HB 487, 2022 Biennium, 2022 Reg. Sess. Ky . 2022 . https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/hb487.html
25.
Hofstadter
R.
(1963 , November ). The paranoid tyle in American politics . Harper’s Magazine . https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/
26.
Hofstadter
R.
(1966 ). Anti-intellectualism in American life . Vintage Press .
27.
Ingram
H.
Mann
D.
(1980 ). Why policies succeed or fail?
Sage .
28.
Joyce
K.
(2022 , March 15 ). How this tiny Christian college is driving the right’s nationwide war against public schools . Salon . https://www.salon.com/2022/03/15/how-this-tiny-christian-college-is-driving-the-rights-nationwide-against-public-schools/
29.Kentucky Tonight . (2021 , June 14 ). Debating critical race theory . Kentucky Tonight . Kentucky Educational Television . https://www.ket.org/program/kentucky-tonight/debating-critical-race-theory/
30.
Kindy
K.
(2023 , April 17 ). Historic surge in bills targeting transgender rights pass at record speed . Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/17/gop-state-legislatures-lgbtq-rights/
31.
Kingdon
J. W.
(1984 ). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies . Harper-Collins .
32.
Kingdon
J. W.
(1995 ). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies (2nd ed. ). Harper-Collins .
33.
Krauth
O.
(2022 a, February 12 ). Amid critical race theory fervor, Kentucky senator seeks to dictate U.S. history lessons . Louisville Courier-Journal . https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-general-assembly/2022/02/04/anti-critical-race-theory-fervor-triggers-new-kentucky-legislation/6662013001/
34.
Krauth
O.
(2022 b, February 12 ). Kentucky lawmakers take aim at critical race theory in new omnibus bill . Louisville Courier-Journal . https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-general-assembly/2022/02/12/kentucky-lawmakers-again-aim-critical-race-theory-new-bill/6766044001/
35.
Krauth
O.
(2022 c, February 18 ). Kentucky senator’s American principles bill set to dictate history lessons, advances . Louisville Courier-Journal . https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-general-assembly/2022/02/17/critical-race-theory-bill-gets-first-vote-kentucky-lawmakers/6705116001/
36.
Krauth
O.
(2023 , April 19 ). Slate of hate and now we wait: Six takeaways from 2023 Kentucky legislative session . Louisville Courier-Journal . https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/31/kentucky-2023-legislative-takeaways/70060481007/
37.
Labaree
D. L.
(1997 ). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals . American Education Research Journal , 34 (1 ), 39 –81 .
38.
Labaree
D. L.
(2012 ). Someone has to fail . Harvard Education Press .
39.
Larson
E. J.
(2006 ). Summer for the gods: The Scopes trial and America’s continuing debate over science and religion . Basic Books .
40.
Latek
T.
(2021 , July 6 ). Education committee hears passionate talk about CRT . Kentucky Today . https://www.kentuckytoday.com/state/education-committee-hears-passionate-talk-about-crt/article_5bf2521f-785b-5670-b9af-3070d55e7d77.html
41.
Lepore
J.
(2022 , March 21 ). Why the school wars still rage . The New Yorker . https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/21/why-the-school-wars-still-rage
42.
Maddux
K.
(2013 ). Fundamentalist fool or populist paragon? William Jennings Bryan and the campaign against evolutionary theory . Rhetoric and Public Affairs , 16 (3 ), 489 –520 .
43.
Mann
H.
(1848 ). Twelfth annual report in The Republic and the school: Horace Mann on the education of free man, Classics in education (Vol. 1 ,
Cremin
L. A.
(Eds.)). Teachers College Press .
44.
McLendon
M. K.
Cohen-Vogel
L.
(2008 ). Understanding education policy change in the American states: Lessons from political science . In
Cooper
B. S.
Cibulka
J. G.
Fusarelli
L. D.
(Eds.), Handbook of education politics and policy (pp. 30 –51 ). Routledge .
45.
McVey
F. L.
(1949 ). The gates open slowly: A history of education in Kentucky . University of Kentucky Press .
46.
Miller
A. M.
(1922 ). Kentucky and the new theory of evolution . Science , 55 (1416 ), 178 –180 .
47.
Mintrom
M.
Norman
P.
(2009 ). Policy entrepreneurship and policy change . Policy Studies Journal , 37 (4 ), 649 –667 . https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15410072.2009.00329.x
48.
Montgomery
J. R.
Gaither
G.
(1969 ). Evolution and education in Tennessee: Decisions and dilemmas . Tennessee Historical Quarterly , 28 (2 ), 141 –155 .
49.
Moran
J. P.
(2003 ). Reading race into the Scopes trial: African American elites, science, and fundamentalism . Journal of American History , 90 (3 ), 891 –911 .
50.
Moyen
E. A.
(2012 ). Frank L. McVey and the University of Kentucky: A progressive president and the modernization of a southern university . University of Kentucky Press .
51.
Moynihan
D.
(2023 , February 27 ). The latest DeSantis attack on education is part of a broader attack on professional competence . Can we still govern?
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-latest-desantis-attack-on-education
52.New York Times . (1922 , February 8 ). Anti-evolution bill beaten in Kentucky . The New York Times . https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/02/8/issue.html
53.
Nickerson
M.
(2012 ). Mothers of conservativism: Women and the postwar right . Princeton University Press .
54.
55.
Power
L.
Savillo
R.
(2021 , June 16 ). Fox News’ obsession with critical race theory, by the numbers . Media Matters . https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-obsession-critical-race-theory-numbers
56.President’s Advisory Commission . (2021 ). The 1776 report . https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Presidents-Advisory-1776-Commission-Final-Report.pdf
57.
Rein
M.
Schon
D.
(1993 ). Reframing policy discourse . In
Fischer
F.
Forester
J.
(Eds.), The Argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning (pp. 145 –166 ). Duke University Press .
58.
Risley
J.
(1919 ). The 48th annual report of the Owensboro public schools, 1918-1919 . Messenger Printing Company .
59.
Rogers Berner
A
. (2012 , December ). The case for educational pluralism . First Things , 39 –44 .
60.
Rufo
C.
(2021 ). Critical race theory: What Isi it and how to fight it . Hillsdate College Imprimis , 50 (3 ). https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/critical-race-theory-fight/
61.
Sabatier
P. A.
(1999 ). Theories of the policy process . Westview Press .
62.
Sawchuck
S.
(2021 , May 18 ). What is critical race theory and why is it under attack? Education Week . https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05
63.SB 1, 2022 Biennium, 2022 Reg. Sess . (Ky. 2022 ). https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/sb1.html
64.SB 138, 2022 Biennium, 2022 Reg. Sess . (Ky. 2022 ). https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/sb138.html
65.
Schwartz
S.
(2021 , July 19 ). Who’s really driving critical race theory legislation? An investigation . Education Week . https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/whos-really-driving-critical-race-theory-legislation-an-investigation/2021/07
66.
Schwartz
S.
(2022 , June 28 ). Where critical race theory is under attack . Education Week . https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/map-where-critical-race-theory-is-under-attack/2021/06
67.Senate Education Committee , 2022 Biennium, 2022 Reg. Sess. (Ky. 2022 ) testimony of Senator Max Wise.
68.
Snow
D. A.
Benford
R. D.
(1988 ). Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization . International Social Movement Research , 1 (1 ), 197 –217 .
69.
Sonka
J.
(2022 , May 23 ). Do Liberty candidate wins mark state trend or is it just a northern Kentucky thing? Louisville Courier-Journal . https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-general-assembly/2022/05/23/kentucky-primary-election-gop-liberty-candidate-wins-new-trend/9835285002/
70.
Steffes
T.
(2012 ). School, society, and state: A new education to govern modern America . University of Chicago Press .
71.
Tyack
D.
Cuban
L.
(1995 ). Tinkering toward utopia: A century of public school reform . Harvard Education Press .
72.
Wiener
D.
Kotch
A.
(2021 ). ALEC inspires lawmakers to file critical race theory bills . The Center for Media and Democracy . https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/07/27/alec-inspires-lawmakers-to-file-anti-critical-race-theory-bills/
73.
Zahariadis
N.
(2016 ). Delphic oracles: Ambiguity, institutions, and multiple streams . Policy Sciences , 49 (1 ), 3 –12 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-016-9243-3
