Should Texas teachers be required to post lesson information for review?
Educators are concerned about a burdensome bill that would require teachers to share information about their lessons online -- and are watching to see where it goes during this unpredictable special session. Republican lawmakers want educators to disclose information about their class materials and activities online, sparking concern about the added administrative strain and purpose of such a requirement. This is burdensome. What problem is this legislation trying to address? said Renee Blackmon, president of the Texas Council for the Social Studies. Who is this boogeyman you think is coming into all these classrooms?  Ultimately, the legislation may not gain traction as Texas Democrats left the state Monday to derail the special session in protest of a Republican-backed elections bill. But some are worried its a sign of continued overreach in classrooms. Conservative pundits and politicians across the country have stirred panic over how race and racism is taught in public schools in recent months. Some groups and local school board members are attempting to arm parents with specific words to watch out for in their childrens assignments -- including ones like equity and narrative -- as part of their effort to oppose critical race theory.  Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, introduced legislation that would require teachers to disclose the information used in their lessons, which would then be uploaded to a district website. Halls office did not respond to a request for comment. A hearing is not yet scheduled. A bill with similar provisions was introduced in the House by Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands. If youre gonna teach something, just let parents know about it, Toth told The Texas Tribune. And although the bill is now in flux, some education advocates say it raised several questions about enforcement and intent. The bill would require that, every month, school districts publish on their websites a list that states all information, including the title, author, organization, or Internet website, as applicable, necessary to identify a teaching material or activity that was assigned, distributed, or otherwise presented to the district s students during the preceding month.  Texas, which is home to more than 1,000 school districts, has more than 375,000 classroom teachers. The state education agency doesnt comment on pending legislation. Its a huge administrative burden for school districts, said Dax Gonzalez, with the Texas Association of School Boards. This is something that would require a lot of hours of work on behalf of teachers, campus administrators and district administrators to round up all this information and keep it current on the website.  Much of whats taught in classrooms can already be made available to parents, either by asking the teacher or by putting in an open records request, he said. For many older students, assignments are loaded onto online portals. Meanwhile, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills -- which outline the standards that students are tested on -- are also online. Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new law outlining a wide-ranging list of subjects and ideas that teachers must -- and must not -- address in schools as an effort to curb critical race theory. Abbott wanted lawmakers to go further to abolish the theory during the special session. Critical race theory is an academic framework that explores how racism is embedded in U.S. policies and systems. Its been conflated with a slew of other concepts, such as diversity and inclusion efforts, anti-racism training and multicultural curricula. Educators across Texas and the nation have repeatedly stressed that critical race theory is not taught in K-12 public schools. Many teachers worry, though, that the highly-politicized debate will have a chilling effect on their efforts to have honest classroom discussions about difficult subjects. Under the new Texas law, teachers cant be compelled to discuss a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs. If schools do discuss such issues, they cant give deference to any one perspective.  Within social studies classrooms, teachers cant teach a variety of ideas, including that a person is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, either consciously or unconsciously. School districts are also prohibited from requiring training that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex. The law also prohibits teaching that slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States. Several of the Founding Fathers owned slaves. Some conservative groups have recently urged parents to look for buzzwords in curriculum to root out critical race theory in the classroom and submit floods of open records requests. The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas. The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Labs journalism.