INDIANAPOLIS — The subject of Critical Race Theory being taught in schools has been a point of contention between parents, teachers, and school districts throughout Indiana.
Because of this contention, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) has laid out what he calls a “Parents Bill of Rights”; a list of what he says your rights are as a parent when it comes to interacting with school districts and your child’s education.
On WIBC’s Hammer and Nigel Rokita said parents are more interested in understanding their child’s education now more than ever thanks to the pandemic.
“Parents last year, all went through the China virus pandemic,” he said. “And we all got to home school our kids in different degrees and it really tuned parents in a little bit and now they have this. We’re indoctrinating our kids with this nonsense that teaches us to hate each other.”
Rokita’s “Parents Bill of Rights” lists the following:
- You have the right and expectation to question and address your child’s school officials and school board members at publicly designated meetings with proper notice of the meeting provided.
- You have the right and expectation to question and review the curriculum taught in your child’s school by questioning local school board and school administrators.
- You have the right and expectation that the academic curriculum taught in your child’s school aligns with Indiana and federal law.
- You have the right and expectation to participate in the selection and approval of academic standards for the State of Indiana.
- You have the right and expectation to obtain educational materials and curriculum taught to your child in the classroom.
- You have the right to run as a candidate for your local school board.
LINK: –> Read the full document
“This is the first installment of at least three,” Rokita said. “This is not where it ends. This is where it begins. It’s important that parents get involved now. We’re also going to talk about religious liberties in school, medical rights in school, those types of things.”
The document is drawing mixed reactions from prominent political figures. Democrat State Sen. Eddie Melton of Gary calls it an unnecessary and discriminatory overreach into education policy by the attorney general.
“I was extremely disturbed after reading Attorney General Rokita’s remarks on Critical Race Theory (CRT) in his ‘Parents Bill of Rights’.” Senator Melton said. “History classes in the United States have long excluded certain parts of United States history that are hard to face. We can only move forward as a unified nation, with actual justice for all, if citizens are taught all of our history.”
The Indiana Democratic Party released a statement calling the document “tone deaf” and accusing Rokita of “continuing” a run for governor in 2024.
Earlier this week, IPS Supt. Aleesia Johnson told Indy Politics that she is not aware of any type of Critical Race Theory teachings being incorporated into curriculums as schools in Indiana. She said CRT involves graduate-level course work that kids in high school and younger should not be learning yet.