Editor’s note: The Daily Journal, and other news media, often use what we call file photos for stories such as these. In this case, we selected a few old photos of teachers in front of a classroom to highlight that the story was from the perspective of educators, though not necessarily the ones photographed.
Local educators are concerned they may soon have have to filter what they teach about certain topics, plan their daily lessons a year in advance and allow parents to keep their children out of class during lessons they find objectionable.
Those are just a few of the education-related bills making their way through the Indiana Statehouse right now, as education has been made a priority of this year’s short session. It follows a year of national debate surrounding issues such as Critical Race Theory and social-emotional learning. Another controversial bill would require public schools to share referendum money with charter schools.
Among conversations with Johnson County teachers associations, Indiana House Bill 1134 came up most frequently as a cause for concern.
The bill would require schools to post their curriculum and educational materials online for parents to review, and would allow parents to opt their kids out of certain lesson plans. The bill would also keep students from having to participate in activities that may show their biases, unless their parents allow them to, according to the bill.
The bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives in January. If the Senate votes to approve it, Gov. Eric Holcomb will decide whether to sign it into law or to veto it. If it is signed into law, it would be detrimental to teachers and their students, said David Lawson, co-president of the United Teachers Association of Center Grove.
“I teach English, and the literature we read deals with race and gender sometimes overtly, sometimes by implication. Social studies teachers deal with current events and American history is not pretty sometimes. The vagueness of the language (of the bill) worries teachers,” Lawson said. “We’re concerned that parents will be hawkish in the way they react to the way things are phrased. We’ve already seen examples of that where we teach in Center Grove. Parents are becoming aggressive and antagonistic on the way historical facts and current events are framed in the classroom.”
The bill would create a filtered version of education that wouldn’t effectively prepare students for the real world, said Erin Davis, secretary treasurer for the Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson teachers union.
“If 1134 were to pass, it’s asking everything to be pre-planned and basically trying to whitewash education,” Davis said. “I’m very concerned a lot of students will not see themselves in lessons anymore. My whole goal in education is for students to come to school and feel safe and comfortable. … If a Black or Hispanic student can’t see themselves in education and can’t read books about people who are not white, they will never feel comfortable because they will feel lesser-than.”
The bill is a result of conflict from a fictional narrative regarding how topics about race are taught, Edinburgh Education Association president Jennifer Garrett said.
“The teachers’ association is strongly against HB 1134,” Garrett said. “HB 1134 only serves to further a national narrative that does not exist is Indiana. It will bully teachers out of having or avoiding, for the fear of being sued or having their license revoked, difficult but necessary conversations and lessons with students. It builds obstacles to helping students with their social-emotional health as well.”
House Bill 1040 would also narrow the way certain topics are taught in school.
The bill requires schools to teach “socialism, Marxism, communism, totalitarianism or similar political systems are incompatible with and in conflict with the principals of freedom upon which the United States was founded,” the bills says.
The bill would also rid of any requirement for asymptomatic students to quarantine, even if they test positive for COVID-19, and would prevent schools from providing mental health assessments for students without parental consent, according to the bill.
The bill is another examples of lawmakers restricting professionals, Lawson said.
“To codify this limitation is just one more example of a legislature not trusting teachers to teach what they’re trained to do,” Lawson said. “They think our goal is to subvert parental authority and turn American children into Marxist terrorists of some kind, but that’s not on anybody’s radar. Teachers value society and the community they live in. I think it’s unnecessary to create this culture of fear about whether or not words will be considered as advocacy of a particular ideology. Teachers have enough to worry about. None of us walk into a classroom with a goal of converting students with political ideas. It’s a myth perpetuated by social media and some news outlets.”
The bill, which has not been voted on since it was referred to the House Committee on Education Jan. 4, would take away some of the abilities of teachers, said Tony Harris, president of the Franklin Community Teachers Association.
“All these bills go into restricting what professional educators can teach,” Harris said. “From our standpoint, Franklin schools have great people. They’re professionals who went to school to do this job, and they get to choose what they teach. They have a requirement through the state about what subject has to be taught, but we leave it up to professional educators to make those decisions.”
Another bill, House Bill 1251, would allow people who don’t necessarily have a teachers license or the same training as full-time teachers to work in school districts under adjunct status. Those adjunct teachers would also not take part in collective bargaining. The bill, which passed the House 73-17, now awaits action in the Senate.
The bill would undermine the effort teachers go through to gain employment in their profession, Davis said.
“1251 would allow anyone to essentially be in school and be a teacher,” she said. “This would allow them to hire anyone off the street. A big part of education is not just being knowledgeable in curriculum, but knowing students and how to reach them. Not everyone will have that understanding.”
Also of local concern is House Bill 1072, which would require school districts to share some of what they receive from property tax referendums with charter schools that are attended by students who live within the district’s boundaries. No specific percentages are mentioned in the bill, which passed the House 52-39 and is awaiting action in the Senate.
The bill is nonsensical, Lawson said.
“If my son mowed my lawn for $20 and I made him give $5 to the kid next door, that’s the logic behind that. It doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said.
Those who are concerned about the potential changes to education should reach out to their legislators, Garrett said.
“Letter writing, texting, emails, phone calls to our lawmakers have been a popular way to voice our opinions,” she said. “Getting the word out to others who are not in education, but must be informed about what is transpiring in public education, and using social media to alert the public to voice their opinion about these bills about public schools.”
