Utah lawmakers have proposed curriculum transparency legislation that would require public schools in the state to make their teaching materials public.
Sponsored by Republican state representative Jordan Teuscher, the bill “enacts transparency and notice requirements for local education agencies and schools regarding curricula, class syllabi, and associated learning materials used for student instruction.” If a school or Learning Education Agency (LEA) is found in non-compliance with the mandatory disclosure requirement, they can be subject to “limited litigation,” according to a copy of the bill obtained by Christopher Rufo.
Learning materials include textbooks, reading materials, videos, activities, digital materials, websites, and other online applications. Any learning materials that are “assigned, distributed, or otherwise presented to students” must be published for the public.
To promote accountability of teachers as well, the bill demands that educators “prepare and submit for approval…a syllabus for each course the educator teaches in middle, junior, and high school,” the review of which will be conducted by a school administrator to ensure that it has the correct identifying information and is displayed properly on the website.
Any time a teacher modifies a syllabus to include a new piece of learning material or the reverse, he/she must inform the parent or legal guardian of every student in the relevant class. Teachers who wish their identities to remain anonymous on the public syllabi can request to only have their personal title and last initial listed, according to the legislation.
Some Republican-dominated states have introduced similar bills as part of a larger fight against the progressive indoctrination of children in public schools. The movement has grown as reports have surfaced of schools offering equity and inclusion materials pushing critical race theory and LGBTQ+ dogma to young students, some of which has been found to feature pornographic or obscene content.
There was parent uproar after it was discovered that the book Gender Queer, which promotes gender fluidity in children and includes many perverse sexual scenes and language, was sitting on the shelves of many school libraries across the country. Pressure campaigns formed in the aftermath successfully forced school districts in states like Florida and Alaska to remove the book.