Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Online: House Bill 1134 and its impact on the future of education in Indiana
The Indiana House of Representatives passed House Bill 1134: Education Matters on
Jan. 26, with a vote of 60-37 and three representatives excused from voting. The bill was
authored by State Reps. Tony Cook, Republican; J.D. Prescott, Republican and Chuck
public education. The bill will now proceed to the Senate for committee discussion and
voting.
The bill covers several areas of public education, requiring schools to post
educational materials to school websites; giving parents the option to opt their children in
or out of these materials; as well as committees created by schools’ governing bodies that
must consist of parents, administrators and community members, according to the text of
HB 1134. Curriculum will also have to follow new parameters that state schools cannot
officially include or promote concepts that may compel employees or students to adhere to
certain tenants in relation to the individual's sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national
origin or political affiliation, and schools cannot require employees or students to engage in
training, orientation or therapy that presents any form of racial or sex stereotyping or
affect the student's attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs or feelings without parental
consent, and schools must provide a request for consent to a student’s parents before
to assuage the anger of certain parts of the population. It does this through the formation of
curriculum advisory boards in each district, which will largely consist of parents, in order
to help determine what materials are appropriate or not, expanding on those that already
“We [schools] have to be very cautious and make sure that students aren't upset by
anything,” DeLaney said. “I don't really think it's about students; I think it's a small number
of parents who get upset about all this, and then they impose their fears on their children
option for parents and students. Parents can opt their children out of social and emotional
counseling, he said, as well as certain classes or any materials they do not want their
“I think we've come to a very dangerous point here, where, in effect, we're going to
turn each school into a special purpose charter school . . . so that we have to tailor
everything—what kind of classes you can take, whether you take all the class[es], whether
you get counseling—all of that has to be tailored child by child to suit the whims of
individual parents, and then it has to be tailored district by district to suit the particular
attitudes of any particular district,” DeLaney said. “Just one more heavy load thrown on top
Assistant Professor of Secondary Education Sarah Denney said she has been
tracking this house bill and previously wrote to her senator in the Senate Education
Committee regarding Senate Bill 167: Education Matters, HB1134’s matching bill that died
on the House floor. She said she is disappointed that this is the focus of the conversation
regarding what efforts need to be made in education currently because of students' needs
during the pandemic. This bill is also putting social studies on the chopping block because
of certain topics coming under fire, Denney said, which may reduce the amount of time
spent on social studies in a time of political polarization where students need these skills.
“With regard to K-12 students, the ability to speak freely in class about sometimes
divisive concepts, but also just critically examine multiple perspectives and history,
allowing students to feel like they have a voice in the classroom, helps them to develop
important communication skills, important critical thinking skills,” Denney said. “And these
things are going to lead to higher academic achievement, higher sense of self-efficacy; this
is going to translate into citizenship skills that we want for our students later on in life….
I'm worried that attempts to eliminate discussion are just going to eliminate those
One of the pieces of evidence presented to the House was regarding a teacher in
Middlebury, Ind. that had presented “graphic” sex education materials, which this bill
would prevent. However, Delaney said most teachers teach what they need to and do a
good job, but teachers are also lacking support. He said Indiana education is underfunded,
and teachers need more pay and more respect, but while they will be receiving higher pay,
they are going to be watched very closely. But there has also been a discussion about the
“What's come up today is the image thing,” DeLaney said. “And now, a small network
of people, who are fearful and have bad attitudes, have spread among themselves the idea
that our schools are pornographic palaces run by lunatics who want to abuse our children.
But the broader dynamic around the country will be that we're backwards. That's harmful
at two levels: it will not attract people to our state, but it also will demoralize people who
Denney said she has concerns regarding how this bill could affect future educators,
mainly because teacher preparation programs across the country have some form of
a Diverse Society and Denney is one of five instructors. Students in this course and ones
like it are forced to critically examine concepts like systemic racism and white privilege,
and Denney said she fears this bill could prevent open and critical examinations of these
topics.
“There are specific tenants that say things like, ‘students should not feel any form of
discomfort as a result of their race, sex, religion, political affiliation, etc.,’” Denney said.
“And while I agree that students shouldn't feel guilty, and that's something that's also
mentioned in the bill, I never want a student to feel guilty for part of their identity. I do
think that sometimes these conversations can be uncomfortable. If students and families
have the right to bring suit against the university for feeling discomfort, that's just going to
limit their growth as individuals, and their ability to have the cross-cultural understanding
This bill is an attempt to discredit the teaching profession, Denney said, and a base
of voters are being awakened that are scared. And she said she understands where those
fears are coming from but thinks teachers should be trusted to teach students.
“I think that what's happening is the dominant narrative and the teaching of
American history is being challenged,” Denney said. “And that's scary. And I completely
understand that feeling. I get this attempt to stick to the basics and stick to our traditional
form of education. But I also just wish that we could trust that social studies professionals,
teacher professionals, have been carefully thinking about the best way to present multiple
preparation. And I just wish that we could share more of that with the general public.”