If you don’t know what critical race theory (CRT) is, don’t feel bad. Neither do the folks in charge of K-12 education in Ohio. In October 2021, the state board of education put the brakes on implicit bias training and, apparently guided by nationwide misconceptions, determined that CRT has “no place in K-12 education.” The board also condemned programs that promote “collective guilt, moral deficiency” to a “whole race or group of people.” As if this type of instruction is part of any curriculum.

We talked with former board president Laura Kohler about how politics are getting involved in education. And it’s not for the better.