Letter to the Editor

LETTER: Local educators express opposition to HB 1134

Thursday, February 17, 2022

To the Editor:

The Greencastle Community School Corporation (GCSC) board of trustees and the Greencastle Classroom Teachers Association (GCTA) come together to ask legislators to vote no on HB 1134. 

This bill creates significant barriers for teaching and limits student learning. Indiana’s PK–12 schools are not a one-law-fits-all model. Instruction and critical thinking are not the same in third-grade reading as in 12th-grade government, yet HB 1134 approaches all grades and all schools with one rule.

Indiana’s current academic standards guide classroom instruction and allow for a transparent education. The standards help develop students to become collaborative, critical thinkers. GCSC schools follow those standards in teaching students how to research, discern, debate and analyze varied situations throughout their studies.

GCSC trustees have not seen evidence that classroom teachers are indoctrinating students or telling their students what to think. Discussion, debate and critical thinking are not indoctrination.

Indiana has a significant teacher shortage and this bill’s limitations on classroom instruction will discourage candidates from pursuing a career in education or will drive new teachers away by drowning them in paperwork and processes.

Furthermore, families opting-in and opting-out of school curricula, surveys and evaluations is costly and impractical in the reality of school operations. 

All are working hard to provide Indiana with a 21st century workforce and the superfluous restrictions will create much more damage than good. We ask legislators to please consult with K-12 teachers and leaders before voting. We ask the community to come alongside us and contact legislators asking them to listen to the professionals and vote no on HB 1134.

Kristien Hamilton

GCTA President