Attorney General Todd Rokita's office announced Friday that it will not remove the material from a website it launched earlier this week to air complaints about school materials related to race, gender and politics.
However, the office said it would post a response from the district that disputes the validity of these complaints. However, Rokita's office told the district that in order to challenge the materials, they would need to prove that the materials were not used or available in the school.
Rokita's Eyes on Education portal compiles complaints about “potentially inappropriate” materials in schools that are “instances of socialist indoctrination from classrooms across the state,” along with their alleged content. It is intended to be displayed.
The school district responded by contesting the authenticity of the material labeled as its own, saying the site's characterization of the content was inaccurate or misleading. Some of his posts date back to 2018.
The website's launch is the trigger for a recent standoff between state attorneys general and schools over how educators handle controversial social and political topics, a battle that also includes state lawmakers. Members of Congress also participated.
A spokesperson for Mr. Rokita's office said that even if the policy has changed, the materials on the portal support the premise that “indoctrination” has been occurring in Indiana schools. But some say it could have a chilling effect on teachers and schools.
The portal, launched Tuesday, lists 13 school districts and one university by name and includes complaints with photos, screenshots or links to presentation materials.
Rokita's office said the posts were “accurate documents provided to our office,” many of which “were provided directly by teachers and could easily be verified.” . A spokesperson said the office will contact people and schools who submitted to the portal if necessary. However, most of the portal's districts previously told Chalkbeat that they were not asked about the portal's materials beforehand.
Rokita's office also said it would investigate whether the school violated state law by using the materials. The spokesperson added that the portal is a tool for parents to “stop indoctrination more quickly and prevent bad history from repeating itself in districts where such policies are claimed to have been abolished.”
School districts seek updates on Eyes on Education
Multiple school districts have asked Rokita for updates and changes. Each of the four districts shared with Chalkbeat the same email response to concerns from Rokita's office, which set a high bar for contesting the posted material.
“Documentation that the content has not been provided to students or communicated to students or parents, or is part of a curriculum, program, or activity provided to the school community by a teacher, school district, or educational agency. Please provide school corporations,” said an email from Corinne L. Youngs, director of policy and legislative counsel for Rokita’s office.
It also states that if the materials are outdated, the district must provide not only a new policy but also documentation that the materials are obsolete or no longer in use.
But a spokesperson for Mr. Rokita's office said Friday that the material in the portal will not be removed, and complaints from schools will not confirm that the material was ever taught, even if it has since been removed or updated. He added that this shows that there is.
Posting complaints and school district responses on the portal “is actually helpful to teachers and school administrators because it exposes misinformation that may naturally exist among the public.” claimed the spokesperson.
As of Friday night, the portal had been updated in two districts. Currently, Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation's “Gender Policy” is “retired” in 2023, and New Prairie United School Corporation's Gender Support Plan is revised in November 2022. It is said that
There is a possibility that the school will be stranded due to the power of the Rokita office.
A spokesperson for Rokita's office said the portal supports Rokita's position, pointing to previous protests against critical race theory in schools.
“The types of people who are currently complaining are the same people who claim there is no indoctrination happening in Indiana schools,” the spokesperson said. “Now those same types of people are saying, 'We can't teach the items on the portal anymore, or we fired that teacher, or we fired that vendor, or we eliminated that policy.' It has proven our point and further strengthened the office's value in education matters.”
Critical race theory, a legal theory, has become an umbrella term for discussions of race and identity.
And schools dissatisfied with Rokita's actions probably have little recourse, one expert said.
The powers of the attorney general's office have increased over the years. Michael Wolff, acting director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University, said many attorneys general are running for senior positions, which could prompt partisan action.
Wolf added that as an elected official, the attorney general has wide latitude to act and little oversight. For example, the governor does not oversee the office of the elected attorney general (Rokita was elected attorney general in 2020). The Indiana Department of Education also said it had no authority over Rokita and was not involved in the portal.
Additionally, Wolf said, the portal could fall within the scope of the attorney general's responsibility to advise other government officials, such as the state Department of Education and local prosecutors, and they could then take action. He said there is.
