Another 'undercover interview' leads to Texas AG investigation into Austin ISD

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking legal action against the Austin Independent School District after his office said it was made aware of a claim that top officials "implemented an unwritten policy of developing and teaching curricula in the (district) in violation of state law prohibiting instruction on critical race theory (CRT) and related topics," a court document said.

Critical race theory is a concept that looks at how race relations have shaped the current social, cultural and legal world in the present time. It was banned from being taught in Texas classrooms in 2021.

Paxton's office is accusing AISD's school board of breaking state law, and he wants to depose each trustee as part of the investigation.

AISD said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Conservative "watch dog" media group, filming undercover

A press release from the AG's office accuses an AISD official of teaching with material from the "banned" 1619 Project.

"Additionally, another employee stated that there were 'ways to get around' the state’s ban on CRT and discussed that the district’s board and superintendent are heavily involved in evaluating and setting policy for the district," the release said.

According to a court document, Accuracy in Media, a conservative nonprofit media group, filmed an "undercover interview" in April 2022 with AISD's former Equity Officer, Dr. Stephanie Hawley.

"Dr. Hawley explained that the District used Newsela to introduce different viewpoints into the classroom and that 'progressive' teachers use Newsela and other resources to educate Kindergarten through third grade students," a court document said. "Dr. Hawley stated that Newsela 'lets us stay out of trouble with the Legislature' because it offers different perspectives."

The Attorney General's office added in its court filing that the instructional tool Newslea is linked to the 1619 Project, which has been banned in Texas. The 1619 Project, an initiative of the New York Times, looks to "reframe the country's history by placing consequences of slavery and the the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative."

Newslea, which launched in 2013, said it aims to provide what it calls meaningful classroom learning for all students.

The court document also cited an undercover interview with with Dr. Adrienne Aldaco on October 1, 2021, with AISD's Customer Care Department.

"In the interview, Dr. Aldaco discussed the heavy involvement of the District’s Board and Superintendent in evaluating and setting policy for the District. As with Dr. Hawley, Dr. Aldaco insinuated that while the District can’t require lessons on Critical Race Theory, the District’s goals of promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion address similar concerns as Critical Race
Theory, with 'ways to get around' the state’s ban," the AG's court document said.

Paxton and his team expressed a concern for the two undercover interviews with AISD's team members, are indicative of how the district's culture has been shaped. The AG's office said the interviews support its suspicions.

Critical race theory in Higher Education

The AG's office has an issue with AISD using resources to find "ways around state law," a court document said. However, critical race theory is typically not taught before higher education, according to Eric McDaniel, a University of Texas at Austin professor of the Department of Government said.

"It is taught to third year law students, and it is not something that's taught in K-12," McDaniel said. "One of the problems we've had is a lot of people have had a hard time defining what critical race theory is, and they will take something that they believe is undermining these their ideology of how they think America is, and call it critical race theory...What the attorney general believes is critical race theory? I'm not sure."

Multiple school districts under investigation amid budget deficits

There have been a number of undercover interviews by Accuracy in Media, leading Paxton to investigate other school districts.

That includes:

• Hutto ISD, related to transgender youth and school athletic policies.
• Richardson ISD, related to transgender youth and school athletic policies.
• Coppel ISD, related to teaching critical race theory.

Each of these districts are dealing with a budget deficit.

Accuracy in Media noted, it has more undercover interviews in its pipeline.