By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
A Senate Republican on Tuesday said she wants to remove many of the provisions in a controversial school curriculum bill.
Arguments have raged at the Statehouse for weeks over House Bill 1134, which would prohibit schools from teaching several concepts related to race and injustice and require schools to have curriculum advisory committees. On Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger, released a comprehensive amendment she said seeks to address educators’ concerns.
The amendment removes language that sets up a complaint process and allows for lawsuits due to violations of the bill. It takes out language to require schools to be impartial when teaching about historical events.
It also narrows the list of off-limits concepts from eight to three: that one group is inherently superior or inferior to another, that one group should be treated adversely or preferentially, and that individuals, by virtue of their traits, are responsible for the past actions of those who shared their traits.
The Indiana Democratic Party almost immediately condemned the amendment. Executive Director Lauren Ganapini released a statement saying the bill still falls short.
“Indiana Republicans are finally admitting their culture wars against public education have crossed the line,” she said in her statement. “The latest version of HB 1134 remains a slippery slope allowing bad actors to demand neutrality on issues, divide communities, and diminish Hoosier values.”
Rogers’ announcement came a day before a Senate committee is scheduled to take testimony and vote on the bill. She said she plans to introduce the amendment for a committee vote at the hearing.
Democratic Executive Director Lauren Ganapini’s released statement against HB1134
is very upsetting. Whether it is Republicans, the Green Party or the Libertarian Party, she is condemning parents with children in school who do not want the slipped-in incognito topics of CRT, SEL and DEI without the parents’ knowledge. She said it allows bad actors to demand neutrality on issues. My reply is who are the bad actors and how does remaining neutral not educate children? The classroom is where discussions are allowed in a neutral atmosphere on both sides of the issue where everyone will feel confident to ask questions and not feel retaliation for asking them.
And I might add that communities statewide and nationwide are already divided since the 2016 election and the 2020 forced mandates on masks, lock downs and vaccines. And as for Hoosier values, hopefully we are maintaining them but in Washington DC there are no values to speak of.