Here’s How You Can Find Out What Your Government Is Up to

“An informed citizenry,” the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in a 1978 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case, is “vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to hold the governors accountable to governed.” Or, in other words, open and transparent government is essential to a free society.

Unfortunately, government leaders and bureaucrats at all levels often seek to close, not open, government operations to the public. This troubling trend of government secrecy is perhaps most startling in America’s K-12 schools, where openness and transparency should be the presumed standard, not outcomes to be evaded. More and more, public school districts are evading transparency, hiding curriculum, and challenging those who question them—underscoring the importance of state public records laws that empower Americans to keep their government accountable.

Read the rest of the op-ed at Townhall.

Jon Riches is the Director of National Litigation at the Goldwater Institute.