Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has dropped a lawsuit against Coppell ISD alleging the district was teaching critical race theory in violation of state law.
A Dallas County district court judge last week granted a joint notice of nonsuit, effectively dismissing the suit, as first reported by Bloomberg Law.
In March Paxton sued Coppell ISD for teaching “woke and hateful Critical Race Theory” – the idea that racism is systemic and engrained in public policy, and the basis of a legal framework dating back to the 1970s. While it’s generally taught in post-grad and law schools, Texas bars it in K-12 classrooms, though opponents of "CRT" have pointed to lessons about racism and other social justice topics as examples.
In response to the state’s allegations, the district sought sanctions against the attorney general’s office, saying Paxton’s accusations were based on two-year-old, undercover videos that were “heavily edited and manipulated so to be grossly misleading.”
“The facts will show that the Attorney General’s lawsuit alleging violations of the Education Code is frivolous, unreasonable, and without foundation,” the court filing read.
The video’s creator, conservative activist group Accuracy in Media, stood by its claims but did not provide unedited footage as requested earlier this year by KERA.
A spokesperson for Coppell ISD said the district is waiting for an official court order before releasing a statement.
Paxton announced on Tuesday he has "resolved" the lawsuit.
"I call on all school districts to voluntarily act to stop woke ideology from being forced on Texas kids, and if they don’t then I’ll see them in court," he said in a statement.
Paxton last week sued Austin ISD over similar claims the district is teaching CRT.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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