Abbott Agency Backtracks From CRT Course

Employees at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services will no longer be required to take the “Knowing Who You Are” critical race theory courses after the program was exposed two weeks ago by Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines.

Up until now, completing the course has been a required condition of employment with DFPS and its sub-agencies.

A source at DFPS sent Texas Scorecard a screenshot of the email that went to all Child Protective Service employees earlier today from Erica Bañuelos, the director of field operations. CPS is a sub-agency of DFPS, which is controlled by the office of Gov. Greg Abbott.

“The courses ‘Knowing Who You Are – 0003578’ and ‘Knowing Who You Are V2 – 0003903,’ are no longer being offered by the agency; therefore, these courses are no longer a requirement for promotion on the CPS career plan,” wrote Bañuelos. “Please note that staff no longer need to submit a deferment request for these courses. All FPS staff with pending deferments for ‘Knowing Who You Are 0003578’ and ‘Knowing Who You Are V2 – 0003903’ will be forgiven.”

Two weeks ago, Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines exposed the heavy influence of critical race theory at DFPS, specifically mentioning the “Knowing Who You Are” materials.

The courses have been described by CPS employees as intense indoctrination, in which white Texans are universally labeled as racists while black Texans are treated as victims. The courses were described by sources within the agency as being full of Marxist ideology, and employees had been required to agree with acknowledging institutional racism and white privilege and commit to being social justice warriors in their government employment.

A DFPS website describes the training as being part of the agency’s push to address “disproportionality,” which is defined as “the overrepresentation of a group of people in a program or system.”

Several months ago, exposure by Huffines’ campaign forced Abbott’s agency to remove pro-transgender materials.

Huffines said he is pleased by the “positive development, but we must demand accountability from Greg Abbott and his appointees for the class being required in the first place.“

“My campaign is about leadership—no excuses—which is obviously not what we have in the governor’s office right now,” added Huffines. “Greg Abbott is a failed leader who has broken his promises on securing the Texas border, safeguarding our elections, and protecting our tax dollars from funding critical race theory and transgender ideology. I look forward to continuing to rally Texans around my campaign to put an actual Republican in the governor’s office.”

A request for comment from DFPS’ media relations department has not be returned.