VIDEO: We Can Keep Radical Politics Out of the Classroom with the Academic Transparency Act

January 26, 2022

Across the country, kids are being exposed to radical political content in America’s K-12 classrooms, and many parents don’t even know that it’s happening…until it’s too late. The Goldwater Institute’s new Academic Transparency Act is designed to empower parents and shine a light on what kids are being taught in public schools.

It’s a powerful new law that has already been introduced in over a dozen states, as parents are calling for accountability in schools that are teaching racially divisive ideologies like Critical Race Theory (CRT).

Here’s how the Academic Transparency Act works. Under this law, public schools would be required to publish a list of instructional materials and activities used during the academic year on a publicly accessible portion of its website. This reform protects parents’ rights by bringing true academic transparency to America’s public schools, while also helping teachers see what other great educators are doing

There are plenty of examples that highlight the troubling nationwide trend of public education bureaucrats putting up barriers to keep parents from finding out what’s going on in the classroom. 

Consider the saga of Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas. Concerned about the school district teaching CRT and gender theory, Solas emailed the school principal and asked to see the curriculum before she enrolled her kindergarten daughter there. When she couldn’t get any answers, Goldwater stepped in and made an additional public records request on her behalf. Then, the school district said it would cost $74,000 to provide the simple information she sought. The National Education Association, the nation’s largest public sector teachers union, even sued to block Solas’ access to the materials.

Solas is far from alone.

In May, a Michigan public school district told parents it would cost a whopping $409,899.10 to access documents that included words like “Critical Race Theory,” “anti-racist,” “equity,” “diversity,” and “inclusion.” And last September, a group of parents and other concerned residents in Minnesota filed a public records request with the Rochester Public Schools district seeking documents related to “equity and social justice topics often referred to as Critical Race Theory (‘CRT’).” Nearly two months later, the school district replied, saying it could provide the requested public records—if the parents were willing to pay up to the tune of more than $900,000.

Parents deserve the truth about what their children are learning, and they deserve for that truth to be easily accessible. Public education bureaucrats have shown little interest in protecting parents’ rights, which is why the Academic Transparency Act is so important.

When it comes to something as important as their children’s education, parents shouldn’t be kept in the dark. Just the opposite, in fact: They deserve transparency.

You can watch Goldwater’ new video on protecting parents’ rights above, and you can read more about Goldwater’s Academic Transparency Act by clicking here.