Missouri attorney general launches reporting platform for divisive lesson plans, school policies
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Attorney General Eric Schmitt is asking parents to share any "woke" policies or lesson plans with his office through a new reporting platform on his website.
The platform launched Tuesday. The office is looking for any information pertaining to curriculum, policies and practices, disciplinary issues, IEP recording policies and anything else parents believe is subtracting from their student's education.
"All this stuff has been sort of hidden and covered up and this is an effort to expose a lot of that, to get the information from parents directly and let people know so they can show up to the school board meeting and say 'I don't want my kids to be taught this divisive ideology,'" Schmitt said.
Schmitt said he wants more transparency from school districts about what's going on in Missouri public education.
"There's just not a lot of transparency at the school district level right now, so this is an effort to say if you're seeing something send it to our office and really try to empower parents," Schmitt said.
However, Todd Fuller with the Missouri State Teachers' Association said the platform seems unnecessary. Instead of reporting issues to the attorney general, Fuller said parents should address concerns with their student's teacher directly.
"The best conversations are the ones that are taking place between parents and between teachers," Fuller said. "And teachers are always looking for creative ways to try to communicate with parents."
Fuller emphasized that transparency is already available for any parents that seek out information from their teachers or school district.
Fuller said education is an easy target for lawmakers trying to make a point, but it's taking away from the work teachers need to do.
"I think that there are lots of issues, extraneous issues that we're concerned about right now that have nothing to do with what's really taking place in public schools," Fuller said.
