Utah House Bill 234

House Bill 234:  Public Educator Curriculum Transparency Requirements

This bill is a bad idea.  Unfortunately, some bad ideas gain traction and make it into our lawbooks.  If you are convinced below, please write your Utah legislators and ask them to reject this bill.

Please also sign the Utah Educator Association's petition against this bill.

House Bill 234 would require public school teachers to post a syllabus and learning materials for each day (180 days) of instruction before the school year begins, and in the case of middle, junior, and high schools, to be approved by school administration.  An accurate, up-to-date syllabus shall be enforced with the threat of litigation.

The most common reasons for suing a school or school district relate with negligence, abuse, failure to accommodate special needs and disabilities, and other mistreatment of children.  This Bill would open Utah schools to lawsuits over a syllabus.  This unnecessary red tape is contrary to a dynamic learning environment, disrespects teachers in their profession, opens up teacher lesson plans for public scrutiny without context, and ultimately adds just another layer of stress for our educators.

If we want to retain high-quality teachers in Utah, the solution is not to micromanage, but to respect our teachers, leaving them the discretion to teach how they want, without adding more checklists to their plate.  They already have enough to-do items with their 25-29 students (multiplied by five for middle and high school teachers).

We not only want students to thrive - WE NEED OUR TEACHERS TO THRIVE.  They need the freedom from demanding administration and government regulations to teach in their own teaching style.

This Bill makes private classroom discussions public domain, open to anyone, regardless of whether his/her child attends school in that classroom or school district.  It opens the door to unaffiliated extremists regulating what is taught to school children, without context to the classroom discussion.  The level of mistrust in Utah school teachers is demeaning.  House Bill 234 reads:

391          (3) (a) To the extent practicable, each school shall:
392          (i) make available for public inspection all learning materials used for student
393     instruction, including original materials; and
394          (ii) allow the public to copy, scan, duplicate, or photograph portions of original
395     materials within the limits of fair use under copyright law.

The reality that some of these teachers' instruction methods, or summary of their instruction, will be misinterpreted by self-appointed public watchdogs is inevitable.  The classroom should remain sacred, and teaching should remain uncomplicated.  A teacher should not fear being thrust into the center of a political uproar thanks to extremists creating something out of nothing.

Teachers are already expected to communicate with parents.  What they may teach is already regulated by the state and school district.  They already receive plenty of oversight from school administrators and parents.  What they don't need is more stress, more work, less trust, less respect, and no pay raise.

In summary, this Bill is just a bad idea.

Please sign this petition and write your legislators to reject this bill.  Thank you.