Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed legislation that would have required public school districts to post online their curriculum, including academic benchmarks, textbooks, and class syllabi, reported Big League Politics.
“Under the guise of transparency, this legislation politicizes what is being taught in our public schools,” Wolf wrote in a veto message.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the public school transparency bill, HB 1332, but it was promptly vetoed by Wolf, a Democrat.
Rep. Andrew Lewis, a Republican, authored the legislation to help parents determine if their children’s schools teach anti-white critical race theory.
“Beginning with the 2022-23 school year and each year thereafter,” the bill read, “a school entity shall post an internet link or title for every textbook used by the school entity, a course syllabus or a written summary of each instructional course and the state academic standards for each instructional course offered by the school entity on its publicly accessible internet website.”
Wolf, who supports CRT, said that the legislation tries to limit a teacher’s ability to tell the truth.
“This legislation is a thinly veiled attempt to restrict truthful instruction and censor content reflecting various cultures, identities, and experiences,” Wolf wrote. “My administration is committed to creating a safe learning environment for all students, and we will not take part in this dangerous and harmful imposition.”
The bill would not have altered any school district’s curriculum, but simply would have made the information available to parents.
Wolf said that parents may access “instructional materials upon request” and that school boards adopt textbooks in public meetings. He said the ability to access these documents makes the transparency bill unnecessary.
Republicans argued that putting curriculum materials on a website would make them more easily accessible and would make parents more engaged in their children’s learning. Wolf didn’t care.
“Therefore,” he wrote, “requiring all public schools to publish on their website the details of every textbook, course syllabus or written summary of each course, and the relevant academic standards for each course is not only duplicative, but overly burdensome.”
