Instead of righting a wrong, the Montana Office of Public Instruction appears ready to double down.
The state agency that oversees public schools wants to penalize teachers who fail to comply with a 2021 law requiring them to notify parents if their child will receive "human sexuality instruction." According to the Daily Montanan, officials want the Legislature to amend the law to classify a violation of that law as "gross neglect of duty," which can come with punishments as severe as revoking a teacher's certification.
As if our public school teachers don't have enough to deal with. Worrying about the right way to punish them ignores the glaring problem this law created in the first place: an ocean of uncertainty about what materials warrant parental notification.Â
Under the law, schools must notify parents 48 hours in advance if the school will be "teaching or otherwise providing information about human sexuality." At first glance, it seems straightforward enough — tell parents if their kid is going to have sex ed. Unfortunately, it hasn't been that simple.
Since the law went into effect, schools have been scrambling to decide what materials they have to tell parents about. To be safe, some are notifying parents about a broad range of classes, including those that aren't centered on sexuality — such as history and English classes. "Romeo and Juliet" is a love story, after all — should an English teacher really need to remind parents of the plot before assigning it to students?Â
That's the problem in the law that needs to be fixed. Give schools clarity on what materials merit notification, and ensure the definition doesn't go too far. But OPI's bill draft does nothing to fine-tune the meaning of "human sexuality instruction." The agency apparently thinks it's more important to spell out the penalties for violating a vague and onerous rule.
It's not hard to see how this can go wrong. Parents might see this as an invitation to micromanage a public school's curriculum. Or they might see this as a way to get their child's least favorite teacher fired.
Montana has the lowest starting teacher salary in the country. Adding severe penalties for this rule will only make the state less attractive for educators looking for work.
OPI officials ought to be more concerned about that. They can start by urging lawmakers to fix or repeal the parental notification law instead of making it worse.Â
This editorial solely represents the opinion of the Chronicle Editorial Board. The board consists of the managing editor, the publisher and several community members. The community members are non-journalists who provide input and help shape the board's opinions.
The board does not represent the views of the newsroom, and its opinions have no influence over the Chronicle's news coverage. To submit feedback on this editorial, email citydesk@dailychronicle.com.
Editorial Board
Mark Dobie, publisher
Jason Bacaj, managing editor
Richard Broome, community member
Renee Gavin, community member
Charles Rinker, community member
Will Swearingen, community member
Angie Wasia, community member
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