by Benjamin Yount
Parents across Wisconsin will not get to see everything their kids are learning in school.
Gov. Tony Evers on Friday vetoed the so-called classroom transparency act.
The idea of the plan was to have schools share their curriculum, lesson plans, and assignments with parents so they knew just what their kids are being taught.
Republicans support the idea, many Democrats and education leaders, including Wisconsin’s state superintendent of schools, hated it.
The governor says he ultimately chose to veto the plan because of the potential costs.
“I object to the bill’s failure to provide the necessary funding to implement these measures,” the governor wrote in his veto message.
One of the plan’s authors, Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Oconto, said Gov. Evers objected to the idea of letting parents get a better look inside their kids’ classrooms.
“Gov. Evers figured he knew what was better for students than their own parents,” Behnke said. “He vetoed a bill that would’ve empowered parents to have control over their children’s education. Instead, the governor opted to keep them in the dark about what is being taught in the classroom.”
Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, said he is not surprised that the governor scuttled the plan.
“A parent should not need to file an open records request, and possibly pay a fee, to find out what is being taught in the classroom,” Stroebel said.
Stroebel also questioned why the governor is so insistent that parents not see what’s being taught in the state’s public schools.
“That zeal for the public’s right-to-know, apparently, stops short of parents knowing what schools teach their children. I suspect many of his old school administrator buddies would rather not face public scrutiny for the curricula they put together. I guess now we’ll never know,” Stroebel said. “And that was the point of this veto.”
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Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Tony Evers” by Governor Tony Evers. Background Photo “Classroom” by Wokandapix.
