Freedom Foundation faults Boise mayor for backing critical race theory. What she says happened
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said a clerical error led to her name appearing below a resolution supporting “critical race theory” being taught in K-12 schools.
The resolution, one of many adopted at a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting last week, expresses support for critical race theory — which examines ingrained racism in various institutions — in K-12 public schools. A draft of the resolution lists McLean as a sponsor, along with the mayors of Portland, Oregon; Louisville, Kentucky; and Chicago.
McLean maintains she had no intention of signing the resolution.
The conference provided mayors with a list of resolutions, including this one. McLean told the Idaho Statesman on Thursday that someone on her staff mistakenly added her name as a sponsor for the one for critical race theory.
“We looked into it, found where the error was made and have asked them to correct it,” she said by phone.
As of Thursday, the names of all sponsors had been removed from the resolution.
An email chain provided by the city shows that Kathy Griesmyer, director of government affairs, selected the resolution for support on July 29. After the resolution was made public on Wednesday by the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Griesmyer sent a follow-up email saying her previous email was an oversight and should be corrected.
The resolution was adopted by the Conference of Mayors’ Executive Committee, a body McLean does not serve on.
McLean said it wouldn’t make sense for her to sign the resolution, since her office has no control over education in the state.
“I believe that schools are best left to determine their curriculum,” she said. “I’m not an expert there.”
Resolutions adopted by the executive committee become platforms for the Conference of Mayors, not necessarily policy to be enforced by the mayors.
Critical race theory has been a flash point in Idaho politics in 2021. Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 377 in May limiting how issues of race can be taught in public schools and universities. Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin also set up an education task force looking for “indoctrination” in schools.
State education officials, along with teachers and administrators, have said the theory isn’t taught in any Idaho K-12 school. Some called efforts to ban or limit its presence a distraction from other issues affecting Idaho students.
News of the resolution was circulated by the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a libertarian think tank based in Boise, which criticized it and called on parents to remove their students from “corrupt school districts.”
McLean said the Idaho Freedom Foundation never reached out to her office for comment before publishing an article about it and criticized the foundation’s haste in publishing it.
“This just seems designed by the Freedom Foundation to further incite and divide and deflect from their own efforts that have contributed to so many of the crises related to COVID that we’re experiencing right now,” she said.
The Idaho Freedom Foundation did not return multiple requests for comment. A statement on its website says the organization does not respond to media requests.
“The Idaho Freedom Foundation has found most of the legacy news media to be agenda-driven propagandists working to shift public opinion toward socialist ideas,” the foundation said on its website.
Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, a Republican, has called the foundation “one of the biggest threats” to democracy in Idaho.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 12:12 PM.
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