Transparency in Our Schools Now

Education undoubtedly plays a foundational role in a student’s early years. The success of this education depends on the cooperative relationship between teachers and parents in order to achieve the best outcome for the student. Where there is cooperation, however, there must be transparency.

That’s why I introduced the Curriculum Review of Teachings (CRT) Transparency Act, to bridge the gap between cooperation and transparency among parents and their local school board. This bill would ensure local school districts post the curriculum for each grade of their elementary and secondary schools on a publicly accessible website as a condition of Title I funding to states and local school districts.

Over the past year, parents have come to realize that decisions about what to teach their students in school are being made by bureaucrats, often without their input. Controversial and factually inaccurate ideas like Critical Race Theory have since entered mainstream conversation and are now being implemented and discussed in school systems nationwide. As a result, parents across the country, including here in Wisconsin, are heading to their local school board meeting to demand more information about what their children are being taught.

What many of these parents find, however, is that there is not enough transparency on the part of the school when it comes to curriculum. Too often, parents are unable to get a straight answer about what their children are being taught. This leaves parents in the dark, an unacceptable outcome and a fundamental breakdown in the elementary and secondary education process. In no world should parents have to fight for access to the curriculum their students are learning, especially when the curriculum promotes divisive and backwards theories.

Now more than ever it is important for parents to know what curriculums are being implemented in school systems across the county. Parents are rightfully concerned that schools are training their children to espouse a warped ideology, rather than educating children in basic subjects like math, English, and science.

The merits of this bill warrant no controversy. The CRT Transparency Act doesn’t ask school boards to make private information public. Elementary and secondary curriculums are already public information to parents who wish to call their school district to inquire. The problem is the onus should not fall on parents to dig for this information. Many parents can become discouraged to find this information based on the hoops they must jump through. My bill simply ensures local school districts make curriculum details easily accessible on a public website.

Finding this information is not an easy task, but I am proud to report the CRT Transparency Act has already garnered support from twenty-three of my colleagues here in Congress, including Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC). I have also spoken to local education leaders here in Southeast Wisconsin who agree with the commonsense sentiment behind this proposal.

I hope to continue building this strong coalition of support to pass my bill and to help parents get a straight answer about what their children are being taught in school. No matter what the class may be, the bottom line is that parents have a right to easily access this information.