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Op-Ed: Time for greater accountability in
education
[The Center Square] John Hendrickson
and Heather Curry
Parents across Iowa are
demanding greater accountability from public schools. The COVID-19
pandemic, along with current social and political movements, has raised
significant concerns from parents about what is happening in K-12
classrooms across the state. |
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 Parents want greater visibility into what their children are
learning and what types of books and other resources are utilized in school.
Whether it is radical 1619 Project curriculum or controversial books that use
vulgar words and portray explicit and pornographic content, curriculum concerns
are driving this demand for more transparency and accountability. Requiring
public schools to be fully transparent about classroom curriculum, available
books and other resources within schools is a commonsense and much-needed
reform.
Gov. Kim Reynolds agrees. In her Condition of the State
address, Reynolds made transparency and accountability a priority.
“Recently, several parents brought to light that schools are buying and teaching
with books that contain vulgar and sexually explicit material involving minors.
These books are so explicit they’d be X-rated if they were movies. The content
is so bad that after a parent read them at a school board meeting, the district
took the live stream down from its website because the passages were too
inappropriate – and yet many of these books remain in school libraries today,”
Gov. Reynolds stated.
Compounding this response is the growing frustration of parents across Iowa who
feel that their concerns are being ignored by school leaders. “And sadly, in
some cases, school administrators are ignoring the problem or just not
listening. Some even believe that it’s a school’s responsibility to not just
teach kids to learn but to control what they learn – to push their worldview,”
Gov. Reynolds said.
This is another reason why the governor is continuing to make school choice a
legislative priority this session. “But for some families, the school district
doesn’t fit their values or meet the needs of their child,” Reynolds said in
discussing the need for greater parental choice in education.
To bring greater transparency and accountability to the resources and materials
being used in classrooms and libraries, Gov. Reynolds has proposed a series of
measures that will provide parents with greater visibility and opportunity to
know what their child is being taught or what they might find in the school
library.
Under the governor’s proposed reform:
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Public schools will be required to publish their class
materials on school and/or district websites where parents and families can
review it.
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Information shall include course syllabuses or written
summaries, state academic standards, and titles of or links to textbooks
used for classes.
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Public schools will be required to publish a
comprehensive list of books available in their libraries and provide
information about the process for filing a concern about a book. If
the concern is not addressed by the school district within 30 days,
it can be appealed directly to the State Board of Education.
To enforce these requirements, the proposal
indicates that “state funding will be withheld from schools that do
not comply.”
Several states have either passed or are
considering similar legislation that would provide greater academic
transparency and accountability. It is unfortunate that radical
ideologies, cultural Marxism, and other counterculture ideas and
behaviors are being promoted and taught in public schools. The
cultural wars have moved into the classroom.
“We live in a free country with free expression. But there’s a
difference between shouting vulgarities from a street corner and
assigning them as required classroom reading. There’s a difference
between late-night cable TV and the school library,” Reynolds said.
Education should not be about pushing a certain ideology or social
identity. Schools are tasked with providing an education that helps
prepare children to be ready for responsible citizenship.
“These schools are helping shape what children come to believe about
the moral, social and historical issues tearing our country apart.
These schools are helping shape the men and women these children
will become,” columnist Patrick J. Buchanan wrote.
Allowing greater sunlight into the public school system will empower
parents to not only know what their child is being taught, but it
will allow for greater scrutiny on schools. “We must equip parents
themselves with the tools to hold schools accountable for their
programming decisions – to be able to see what is being taught and
differentiate between activist and academically oriented schools
before they have to make an enrollment decision,” former Secretary
of Education Betsy DeVos wrote.
Gov. Reynolds’ proposal to provide greater
transparency and accountability within public education will help
restore the right of parents to be informed and involved in the
education of their children. More sunlight will only help to improve
the overall quality of education in Iowa.
John Hendrickson is policy director of Iowans for
Tax Relief Foundation and Heather Curry is director of strategic
engagement at the Goldwater Institute
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