House Bill 234, sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher representing the South Jordan district, is entitled “Public Educator Curriculum Transparency Requirements.” If it becomes law, teachers would have to make all learning materials for any class accessible to the public ahead of the semester. It defines “learning materials” as “textbooks, reading materials, videos, activities, digital materials, websites and other online applications.”
Heidi Matthews is the president of the Utah Education Association, the state’s largest union for public school employees. She says it requires too much work from teachers and is unnecessary.
“We see a wave of so-called transparency bills going across our country,” Matthews says. “Really, they’re about making sure that ideas that some are opposing about an accurate and honest history and any discussions about race [don’t] make their way into the classroom. I would just say, let’s be transparent about what the bill’s really about.”
She says parents already have plenty of opportunities to access class materials and bring up concerns with teachers. Those opportunities are through online class management platforms like Canvas, direct interaction in parent nights or via email, and annual disclosure statements.
She also says it’s already a tough time for teachers in Utah, who are overworked at this stage in the pandemic, and this would make their jobs harder.
“Why do we want to legislate things that can already happen?” Matthews says. “Why do we want to send this message to our educators right now, a message of distrust? Especially at this time.”
Rep. Teuscher didn’t respond to KPCW’s request for comment in time for this report.
A survey the Utah Education Association released about the bill has gathered over 13,000 responses. Matthews says the responses from across the state are widely in opposition of the bill.
