As COVID restrictions shut down and schools and districts went to online homeschooling, parents became more attuned to what their children were being taught. Many were shocked and started to challenge school boards and libraries over the materials exposed to their kids. Objections to these materials, some labeled as “pornographic,” have led state Senator Dean Murray to introduce the “Public School Instructional Materials Review and Transparency Act.”
“We want to ensure that parents/guardians have a voice in what materials are being made available to their children in schools,” Murray said in explaining his bill. “Parents have every right to know what materials are being made available to their children and also have every right to question whether certain materials are appropriate.”
Under the legislation, the process of handling complaints about “challenged material”--instructional aids including textbooks, library books, or other learning items–will be formalized. Currently, school board handling of resident objections varies from district to district, Murray noted. “While the parents certainly should be allowed to express their concerns, and those concerns should be considered, the final decision should rest with the body that is charged with making such decisions, the duly elected school board,” added Murray.
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| NYS Senator Dean Murray File Photo |
State Education Department regulations on this issue simply instruct schools to set up a process but do not provide guidance on what it should look like. Murray’s bill ensures that there is uniformity in how these cases are handled. “It ensures that parents have knowledge of all materials available to their children in schools, ensures there is transparency in the review committee process, gives an opportunity for public input, and ensures that school board members have the final decision on whether to keep, modify access to, or discontinue use of a challenged material,” he said.
Input from parents and other district residents must be examined by a review committee under the bill. They will be allowed access to the source citation database of all instructional materials in use within the school district. The bill provides a funding mechanism to support the maintenance of the database and establishes timelines for the review process, as well as for action by the school boards. It also requires public notification that challenged material will be taken up at school board meetings and that residents will have an opportunity to provide public comments. “It establishes accountability in the public education system by requiring a public vote by school board members on the challenged material,” Murray said, stressing that the law does not take away a school board’s power to decide which instructional materials are used and does not put the public in charge of choosing instructional materials. It doesn’t place unfunded mandates on the school districts, the senator said.