Republican lawmakers in Indiana are rolling back the language in a series of bills they said would increase transparency around school curricula, after the proposals drew national attention and widespread opposition.
State senators on Wednesday held back their bill, one of three “education matters” proposals being pushed by conservative lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly that would mandate that classroom materials be vetted by parent review committees and place restrictions on teaching about racism and political topics.
The House education committee also amended out what teachers called some of the most vexatious parts of another bill, which included a requirement that all school curricula, such as daily lesson plans, be posted publicly online.
Baldwin’s exchange with a teacher during testimony on the bill last week sparked national news coverage and social media backlash after he said teachers must be “impartial” when discussing Nazism and other political ideologies.
Republican Rep. Tony Cook of Cicero, who authored the House bill revised on Wednesday, emphasized that new language in the legislation ensures educators can still discuss “social injustices” and that “schools can and should teach that Nazism is bad.”