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Indiana HB 1134 approved by House, would limit what's taught in classrooms

Arika Herron
Indianapolis Star

The ball is in the Indiana State Senate’s court, though it may feel more like a land mine.

With a largely party line vote, the Indiana House passed House Bill 1134 Wednesday evening, sending it to the Senate for consideration.

The bill, which would limit what teachers can say regarding race, history and politics in Indiana classrooms, is nearly identical to a piece of legislation that senators already abandoned after its author said it would require teachers to remain neutral on topics including Nazism, Marxism and fascism and promptly became the subject of national outrage.

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The controversial bill, inspired by a nationwide debate over how schools teach about race, history and social-emotional learning, was passed 60-37 Wednesday night, over considerable opposition from the state's teachers.

The bill has several components. It lists a series of "divisive concepts" that would be banned from Indiana's public school classrooms, including that any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin or political affiliation is inherently superior or inferior to another and that any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish responsibility, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin or political affiliation.

It would allow parents who allege a violation of the ban to file a complaint and, in certain cases, sue schools. The latest version of the bill limits awards to court costs, attorney's fees and damages up to $1,000. 

It also allows for the state's secretary of education to suspend or revoke the license of a teacher, principal, superintendent or other employee licensed through the Indiana Department of Education for "willfully or wantonly" violating its provisions around promoting divisive concepts.

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The bill would also require teachers to post materials and activities used in the classroom on websites for parents to inspect and create parent-centered curriculum review committees

"The overriding intent of this bill is to provide curricular transparency," said the bill's author, Rep. Tony Cook, R-Cicero, "as well as to empower parents by returning them the opportunity to participate in the curriculum process of selecting and approving instructional materials to be used by teachers in the classroom."

Cook, a former teacher and school superintendent, said he thinks the bill has been misrepresented and misunderstood.

Opponents, though, argue it will drive teachers out of the classroom over fears their work will be subject to undue scrutiny and over the increased workload.

Lawmakers listened to hours of public testimony on the bill from Hoosiers on all sides of the issue — from parents who are worried about what their children are being taught to teachers who want the freedom to tell their students the truth about dark periods of national and world history.

Leaders of education, religious and Black organizations have opposed the bill.

Through several iterations, the bill has been amended to try and assuage fears that teachers wouldn't be able to teach honestly about historical injustices, that schools would be subject to endless civil action from parents unhappy with classroom lessons or that requirements to upload materials to online portals would drown teachers in additional work.

Most lawmakers who are educators in the chamber voted against the bill Wednesday night.

Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute, has been a teacher for 28 years. She said teachers want parents to be involved in their child's education, but thinks the bill goes far beyond that. 

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"This bill will fundamentally change the way we teach and interact with our students," she said. 

Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, was one of the nine Republicans to vote against the bill. The director of a school in southern Indiana, McNamara said she supported 99% of the bill, but couldn't get past the last 1%.

"I struggle with the premise in this bill that we say that all teachers in Indiana somehow have to be monitored and post their lessons, post their syllabi at the beginning of the year," McNamara said. "As a professional, I struggle to get past that because my teachers in my building are so dedicated."

Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, said parents have a right to know what's happening in their kid's classroom.

"Good educators are not going to have problems implementing this bill," Behning said. And, he said, if educators step over the line into promoting the divisive concepts or using materials that do so, parents should have recourse.

It's path forward is unclear. Senate Bill 167 was very similar but abandoned by the state Senate after it became the subject of national outrage and ridicule when that bill's author, Sen. Scott Baldwin, suggested teachers be neutral on Nazism, sticking to the facts. He later walked back those remarks, denouncing Nazism.

Earlier this month, Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said the legislation didn't have a path forward in that chamber. At the time, he declined to comment on HB 1134, saying Senate Republicans would review the bill if it came to them.

Cook said he will work with senators to continue making tweaks to the bill. 

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.