The year 2022 truly magnified the ongoing struggle for the integrity of American education, revealing an intensified “legislative war on education in America” that built ferociously on the trends observed in 2021. As the PEN America Index of Educational Gag Orders continued its vital work, the data for 2022 presented an alarming picture of escalation in both the volume and scope of legislative interference.
Let us speak plainly and truthfully about what transpired. In 2022, the number of proposed educational gag order bills soared by 250 percent compared to 2021, with 137 bills introduced in 36 different states, a stark increase from the 54 bills in 22 states the previous year. While only seven new gag order bills became law in 2022, compared to twelve in 2021, these newer laws were among the “most censorious” to date, reflecting a heightened inclination towards state-imposed censorship. This undeniable escalation manifested in strikingly more punitive measures, with 55% of proposed gag orders including explicit punishments, a notable jump from 44% in 2021. These penalties ranged from heavy fines and loss of state funding for institutions to the termination or even criminal charges for teachers. Some unsuccessful bills even proposed criminal penalties.
A significant development in 2022 was the broadening of targets for these gag orders. While K-12 schools remained the primary focus, appearing in 96% of bills, legislation increasingly set its sights on public colleges and universities. This marked a notable shift for many Republican lawmakers who, just a few years prior, had championed “Campus Free Speech Acts”. In 2022, 39% of all introduced bills targeted higher education, a rise from 30% in 2021. Even more strikingly, 57% of the educational gag order laws passed in 2022 were aimed at higher education institutions, compared to just 25% in the previous year. Laws like Florida’s HB 7 and Tennessee’s HB 2670 exemplify this trend, imposing severe restrictions on topics related to race, sex, and other “divisive concepts” in both K-12 and higher education, with penalties including monetary fines, loss of state funding, and private rights of action. Notably, South Dakota’s HB 1012 focused exclusively on higher education, prohibiting public colleges and universities from compelling students to adopt or affirm certain “divisive concepts”. The wording of these compulsion bans, while appearing to align with free speech, often lead to broader, more censorious interpretations by officials and create a chilling effect on educators.
The content targeted by these bills continued to evolve. While race, sex, and gender remained common subjects, 2022 saw a sharp increase in bills specifically targeting LGBTQ+ identities. Florida’s HB 1557, widely known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, became law, restricting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and allowing parents to sue schools for violations. This surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation reflects a convergence with the “anti-critical race theory” campaign, framing discussions of LGBTQ+ topics as “left-wing indoctrination”.
Furthermore, lawmakers prioritized shielding American history and society from “negative moral judgments”. Fourteen bills explicitly aimed to limit the use of The New York Times‘s “1619 Project”. South Carolina’s H 4392, for instance, would have forbidden instructional material suggesting that “slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to the authentic founding principles of the United States”. Such legislation, as the sources clearly indicate, risks outlawing historical perspectives that explore the deep roots of racial discrimination in American history. Some bills even broadly demanded that education “promote an overall positive… understanding of the United States” or prohibit “anti-American bias”.
The pervasive vagueness of these laws fosters a “chilling effect” on teachers, leading them to self-censor and avoid discussing controversial but vital topics for fear of punishment. This environment also exacerbates the nation’s teacher shortage, as educators feel disrespected and constrained by politicians. The punitive measures, including the rise of “private rights of action” that allow individuals with no direct connection to a school to sue, significantly heighten the threat to educators. Beyond gag orders, other forms of educational censorship emerged, such as “curriculum transparency” bills that effectively create “surveillance of teachers” through public posting of materials or even proposals for cameras in classrooms. There were also efforts to legalize book banning, exemplified by Florida’s HB 1467, which makes it easier to challenge and remove library content.
However, the truth is that educators did not stand idly by. A significant counter-movement emerged in 2022. Reports from The Washington Post and Salon in February and March 2022 highlighted that college faculty were actively fighting back against these state bills. The African American Policy Forum (AAPF), in collaboration with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and PEN America, launched a faculty senate resolution campaign. This initiative aimed to mobilize faculty to “defend academic freedom to teach about race and gender justice and critical race theory”. These resolutions, far from being mere “performative” gestures, served to reassert academic autonomy from partisan political interference and challenge the manufactured division between K-12 and higher education. Faculty members, including those in STEM fields, increasingly recognized that threats to academic freedom in one area could affect all. This collective action was driven by a commitment to the truth and the recognition that suppressing knowledge, especially about marginalized histories, is an attack on democracy itself. Legal challenges continued to be filed against these gag orders in various states, including Florida, Oklahoma, and New Hampshire.
It is also important to acknowledge that the broader context of 2022 extended beyond domestic educational battles. For instance, the US Department of State found credible reports that government officials engaged in torture in Salvadoran prisons in 2022. This grave human rights issue, while distinct, resonates with broader themes of state control, the struggle between individual freedom and state power, and the potential for governments to engage in problematic actions that undermine human dignity. The sources previously noted that during the 1980s, the US government armed a Salvadoran government whose “death squads” murdered thousands annually, and that officials were known to be “lying” about their policies. These reports, then, serve as a stark reminder that abuses of power are a global concern, whether they manifest as censorship in classrooms or physical and psychological torment in detention facilities, reinforcing the imperative to speak truth to power and to resist authoritarian tendencies wherever they appear.