Indiana’s new tip line has angered some progressive advocates who feel the resources will be used to prevent schools from offering lessons on LGBTQ- and race-related issues.
The so-called transparency portal, dubbed Eyes on Education, was launched as a way for parents to report concerns about materials being used in their children's schools.
LGBTQNation released a story about the portal – calling it a “snitch line” that aims to “intimidate teachers and administrators into nixing lessons about LGBTQ+ issues, Black history, women’s rights, and the usual GOP boogeymen.” The outlet reported that “it only took minutes before the internet jumped in to spam the line.”
“The online form has been inundated with fake reports, memes, and photos,” the outlet reported on Feb. 7. “Similar failed snitch line attempts in Virginia and Missouri were eventually taken offline.”
Opponents of the bill are encouraging one another to submit irrelevant or nonsensical items in order to overwhelm the new portal.
Attorney General Todd Rokita launched the tipline on Feb. 6 citing concern expressed by students, parents and teachers about “destructive curricula, policies or programs” in state schools.
“Our kids need to focus on fundamental educational building blocks, NOT ideology that divides kids from their parents and normal society,” said Rokita in a press release. “The media and schools themselves have continued to deny that this indoctrination is happening here in Indiana, so my office is launching Eyes on Education — a platform for students and parents to submit and view real examples of socialist indoctrination from classrooms across the state.”
His office included several examples of material that has already been submitted, including a gender support plan from Clark-Pleasant Community School Corp., where teachers are told not to reveal a student's gender identity to anyone including parents and guardians, as well as Martinsville High School’s presentation that directs students to become “emotionally independent of parents.”
“The Office of the Attorney General will follow up on materials you submit to the portal that may violate Indiana law using investigative tools, including public records requests, and publish findings on the portal as well,” according to the statement. “Beyond K-12 classrooms, the Eyes on Education portal also accepts submissions involving colleges, universities and other affiliated academic entities in Indiana.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana objects to Rokita’s portal, calling it his effort to prevent schools from “teaching important racial equity and LGBTQ topics, in an effort to intimidate teachers from discussing these issues with students.”
“Classroom inclusivity benefits everyone. Classroom censorship does nothing but harm,” the organization wrote in a message on X.
