Teachers across Georgia are joining a lawsuit challenging the state’s so-called “divisive concepts” law targeting public schools.

We should respect our teachers and realize no one knows their jobs better than they do.

Educators, not legislators, should decide what happens in the classroom.

While parents are the experts when it comes to raising their own children, teachers are the experts when it comes to academic instruction.

HB 1084, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp on April 28, defines divisive concepts as teaching “one race is inherently superior to another race; the United States of America is fundamentally racist; and an individual, by virtue of his or her race, is inherently or consciously racist or oppressive toward individuals of other races.”

But teachers across the state are saying it is not as simple as it sounds or as lawmakers seem to think. The law has resulted in a lot of confusion and is making their jobs more and more difficult.

The law was an overreaction, a solution looking for a problem and more a matter of political posturing than a matter of good public policy. Lawmakers grandstanded with righteous indignation over the teaching of Critical Race Theory when, in fact, no public elementary, middle or high school in the state of Georgia includes CRT in its curriculum.

It is no wonder that school systems across the state are losing teachers and having trouble filling open teaching positions.

We sympathize with one of the state’s high school history teachers, Jeff Corkill, when he said, “Like many educators in Georgia, I can’t figure out what I can or can’t teach under the law, and my school district’s administrators don’t seem to understand the law’s prohibitions either.”

That is not an indictment of the ability of teachers and administrators to understand plain English, it is an indictment of the law itself and just how garbled and poorly defined it is.

Teachers are afraid to even talk about slavery, Black history or the Civil Rights Movement. These topics are not what has been called Critical Race Theory. In fact, these things are what we all used to just call American history.

It remains to be seen what will happen with this lawsuit but we encourage the General Assembly to respect Georgia teachers and revisit the “divisive concept laws” in the upcoming legislative session. Passing commonsense laws is far more preferable to having to settle lawsuits.

Teachers in the classroom do not have some politically driven agenda but simply want to educate our children with reliable, factual information.

Why would any parent, any lawmaker or any one of us want anything less?

Teachers do not want to indoctrinate. They want to stimulate young minds and educate our future leaders.