Introduction

Many accreditors now possess overtly politicized accreditation standards. We will quote from the Council on Social Work Education’s 2022 Education Policy and Accreditations Standards for Baccalaureate and Master’s Work Programs at some length, to make clear how extreme this politicization already has become.

• 2022 Education Policy and Accreditations Standards includes politicized requirements in all nine of their nine competencies.

Social workers use rights-based, anti- racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to understand and critique the profession’s history, mission, roles, and responsibilities and recognize historical and current contexts of oppression in shaping institutions and social work. (Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior, p. 8)

Social workers critically evaluate the distribution of power and privilege in society in order to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice by reducing inequities and ensuring dignity and respect for all. (Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice, p. 9)

Social workers understand the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and use their knowledge, awareness, and skills to engage in anti-racist practice. (Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice, p. 9)

Social workers use ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive approaches in conducting research and building knowledge. (Competency 4: Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice, p. 10)

Social workers understand and critique the history and current structures of social policies and services and the role of policy in service delivery through rights- based, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist lenses. (Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice, p. 10)

Social workers are self-reflective and understand how bias, power, and privilege as well as their personal values and personal experiences may affect their ability to engage effectively with diverse clients and constituencies. (Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities, p. 11)

Social workers are self- reflective and understand how bias, power, privilege, and their personal values and experiences may affect their assessment and decision making. (Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities, p. 12)

Social workers understand theories of human behavior, person-in-environment, and other interprofessional conceptual frameworks, and they critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in selecting culturally responsive interventions with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. (Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities, p. 12).

Social workers apply anti-racist and anti-oppressive perspectives in evaluating outcomes. (Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities, p. 12)

• 2022 Education Policy and Accreditations Standards includes a separate section on Educational Policy 2.0: Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI).

Social work programs integrate anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) approaches across the curriculum. Programs provide the context through which students learn about their positionality, power, privilege, and difference and develop a commitment to dismantling systems of oppression, such as racism, that affect diverse populations. Programs recognize the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and prepare students to have the knowledge, awareness, and skills necessary to engage in anti-racist practice. …

Accreditation Standard 2.0: Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) 

2.0.1 The program engages in specific and continuous efforts within the explicit curriculum related to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

a. The program provides examples of its specific and continuous efforts within the explicit curriculum related to ADEI, as described in Educational Policy 2.0.

b. The program addresses all program options.

2.0.2 The program engages in specific and continuous efforts within the implicit curriculum related to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 a. The program provides examples of its specific and continuous efforts within the explicit curriculum related to ADEI, as described in Educational Policy 2.0. 

b. The program addresses all program options. (p. 16)

We have crafted companion model legislation such as the Accreditation Freedom Act, the Accreditation Nondiscrimination Act, and the Accreditation Scope Act with extreme politicization such as the 2022 Education Policy and Accreditations Standards in mind. Accreditors committed to such extreme ideology should have their powers over institutions reduced as much as possible, and states and institutions should be granted the maximum amount of freedom to escape such accreditors.

Yet the federal government cannot be satisfied with crafting means to escape such accreditors. The federal government should act forthrightly to de-recognize all accreditors who embrace such discriminatory concepts. The Accreditation Depoliticization Act amends 20 U.S. Code § 1099b - Recognition of accrediting agency or association to achieve that aim. We would welcome bills that achieve the same intent by adaptation of other parts of the federal statutes. We also would welcome executive orders or Education Department agency rules that achieve the same goal—although federal legislation would be preferable, since executive orders and agency rules can be revoked more easily.

We believe that we have phrased the Accreditation Depoliticization Act so that it would bar much or all of the politicization in accrediting organizations such as the Council on Social Work Education. Yet we recommend that policymakers read the entire text 2022 Education Policy and Accreditations Standards, and other such accreditation documents, to determine whether more extensive statutory language is needed to depoliticize the accreditation process.

Model Legislative Text

SECTION A. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Accreditation Depoliticization Act of {20XX}”.

SECTION B. ACCREDITATION DEPOLITICIZATION

1. In General.— 20 U.S. Code § 1099b - Recognition of accrediting agency or association is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

"1. Accreditation Depoliticization. No accrediting agency or association may be recognized by the Secretary that advantages or requires an institution of higher education, or any school, department, or office within an institution of higher education, to teach, train, require, inculcate, or reward any student, faculty, staff, or institutional component of the institution to practice, adopt, favor, or affirm a belief in:

"a. any discriminatory concepts, or any pedagogies that require assent to any of these discriminatory concepts;

"b. defamatory history of America’s founding, or any pedagogies that require assent to a defamatory history of America’s founding;

"c. the so-called systemic nature of racism, or like ideas, or any pedagogies that require assent to any of these concepts;

"d. the so-called multiplicity or fluidity of gender identities, or like ideas, or any pedagogies that require assent to any of these concepts;

"e. concepts such as allyship, diversity, social justice, sustainability, systemic racism, gender identity, equity, or inclusion, or to any ideology or pedagogy that classifies individuals within identity groups, divides identity groups into oppressed and oppressors, or prescribes advantages, disadvantages, or segregation based upon identity group membership, or to any other ideology, pedagogy, principle, concept, or formulation that requires commitment to any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy; or

"f. service-learning, or any other pedagogy that involves social or public policy advocacy.

"2. The Education or Justice Department shall enforce this Act and shall investigate credible complaints of noncompliance brought by any American citizen. If non-compliance is found after such investigation, the Education Department shall rescind recognition of the non-compliant accreditor as an accrediting agency or association.

"3. Any American citizen or lawfully constituted American business or non-profit entity with demonstrable connections to the accreditor may also sue the accreditor in a court of law to enforce this Act. Such complainant may also request compensation for harm suffered from noncompliance, if any, as well as recover legal and other costs incurred to sue.

"4. "Discriminatory concepts” means any one or more of the following concepts:

"a. one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex;

"b. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, privileged, biased, oppressed or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;

"c. an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual’s race;

"d. members of one race cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race;

"e. an individual’s moral standing or worth is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex;

"f. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;

"g. any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex;

"h. meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a members of a particular race to oppress members of another race;

"i. fault, blame, or bias should be assigned to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex.

"5. “Defamatory history of America’s founding” means any one or more of the following concepts:

"a. that the advent of slavery in the territory that is now the United States constituted the true founding of the United States;

"b. that, with respect to their relationship to American values, 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, which include liberty and equality;

"c. that the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist.

"6. “Service learning” means a method— (A) under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that— (i) is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (ii) is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program, and with the community; and (iii) helps foster civic responsibility; and (B) that— (i) is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community service program in which the participants are enrolled; and (ii) provides structured time for the students or participants to reflect on the service experience."

SECTION C. SEPARABILITY
If any provision of this Act, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application of its provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.