From IU to K-12 public schools, Indiana Attorney General and Republican Todd Rokita’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and “Eyes on Education” portal have heightened oversight of curriculum and training in Indiana education. Fresh off a campaign that emphasized “standing up for parents and against woke ideology,” Rokita’s tenure will likely increase the pressure on education in Indiana.
Here’s everything you need to know about Rokita’s efforts to reform education.
“Parents’ Bill of Rights”
The release of Rokita’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights" in June 2021 marked the beginning of his involvement with Indiana’s educational system as Indiana attorney general. The document, detailing 17 rights of Indiana parents, is on its fourth volume since its original release, last updated in August 2023.
The first volume consists of descriptions of parents’ rights to challenge Indiana’s school curriculum and academic standards as well as their right to make complaints about civil rights materials being taught in schools. Volume two focuses on parents’ rights to make medical decisions including vaccinations for their children, volume three explains public and private schooling options for Indiana students and volume four details the protection of students’ First Amendment rights to free speech and free practice of religion within schools.
The original release of the document came after Indiana parents began to speak out against Indiana schools’ use of educational materials covering topics of gender identity and race, especially critical race theory, or CRT. Critical race theory studies systemic racism and how race shapes U.S. society and law. According to the IndyStar, Indiana parents have called the teaching of critical race theory and gender identity topics “indoctrination.”
However, critical race theory is rarely included in the Indiana K-12 curriculum. Sylvia Martinez, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Indiana University, said at the K-12 level, there are generally only sprinkled mentions of historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Cesar Chavez.
“People think that CRT is being taught in K-12 schools and it really isn’t,” Martinez said. “CRT is a really complex theoretical framework... and that’s not happening in K-12."
However, Quentin Wheeler-Bell, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at IU, acknowledged that basic aspects of race theory are becoming relevant in the education system.
“I think it would be disingenuous for us to pretend these ideas are not getting into the public and into schools,” Wheeler-Bell said.
“Eyes on Education”
Going hand in hand with the topics included in the first volume of his “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” Rokita released an online portal called “Eyes on Education” in 2024. The portal publicly displays lists of complaints lodged against “objectionable” educational materials used in Indiana schools. Complaints about educational materials from Indiana K-12 schools, colleges, universities and other academic entities can be submitted to the portal.
Martinez said the portal could provide curriculum transparency for parents.
“I think that if a parent has a child enrolled in a particular school, they have the right to know what their curriculum looks like,” Martinez said.
The description of the portal states the Office of the Attorney General investigates all materials submitted to the website under Indiana law and publishes them after a vetting process. However, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, local education officials said published allegations were not properly investigated or verified before the portal was released to the public. Additionally, anyone can submit complaints to the portal, not just parents, and some originally published materials were out of date or no longer used by the accused schools. The Indiana Department of Education was not consulted by Rokita’s office before the release of the portal to the public.
Affecting IU directly, a complaint against Jay Hess, the dean of the IU School of Medicine, was published in the portal. The complaint claims that diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and LGBTQ+ agendas “are heavy endorsed and pushed by Dean Hess.” The complaint features unconfirmed hearsay regarding Dean Hess's support of such agendas from unnamed IU faculty.
Matt Pierce, a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives, deemed the portal unnecessary.
“There are many avenues on the local level for parents to interact with school administrators and a school board,” Pierce said. “So having some website somewhere in Indianapolis I don’t think is really essential.”
Martinez agreed.
“I’m not sure a portal is the way to submit complaints,” Martinez said. “I believe in contacting school administrators or teachers and having conversations about curriculum or lessons.”
She said this portal speaks to the larger recent trend of “anti-intellectualism" and an attack on teachers and higher education.
“We don’t trust our educators as professionals,” Martinez said.
A “culture war issue”
The second volume of the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” says parents have the right to decide whether their children should receive vaccinations and immunizations, make other medical care decisions for their children, receive their children’s health records from school and acquire special education services for a child with a disability. Rokita is opposed to vaccine mandates. The second volume also emphasizes Indiana’s prohibition of gender-affirming care for minors across the board, regardless of parental consent.
The third volume of the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” outlines parents’ rights to use Indiana’s school choice program, a taxpayer-funded private school scholarship program, to enroll their children in private schools, transfer their children between public schools, enroll their children in charter schools or homeschool their children.
The most recently published iteration of the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” volume four, describes student’s rights to retain their freedom of speech and freedom of religion in school.
Wheeler-Bell said allowing freedom of speech and religion in schools can help students learn from different perspectives.
“You want to help students understand how to form and develop their own opinion, which also requires a level of free speech,” Wheeler-Bell said. “The aim is, how do we create a class environment in which students can learn about different opinions, see different opinions, disagree with them and do so in a civil manner.”
Wheeler-Bell also highlighted that along with allowing religion or free speech in schools, it is important to include topics and opinions within Critical Race Theory in the classroom. He said this allows diverse opinions to be heard and civilly argued between students.
“If we as public institutions are not helping students and children to be able to deal with these issues, we’re actually doing them a disservice,” Wheeler-Bell said. “And that contributes to the polarization because you increasingly don’t trust people and don’t trust public institutions.”
Volume four also features updates of already published volumes due to newly passed laws in Indiana. These laws include the banning of literature in K-12 schools that is "harmful to minors” and school staff being required to tell parents if their children ask to be called by different pronouns or a different name.
Martinez emphasized that school is often a safe place for children in the LGBTQ+ community.
“For a lot of kids, school might actually be their safe haven where a teacher has pointed to the fact that they’re safe and a student is able to disclose their identity,” Martinez said.
Rokita’s campaign website also highlights his focus on keeping transgender girls from being placed in girls’ sport competitions.
Pierce said this is a culture war issue.
“Republicans seem to enjoy beating up trans kids, so that’s what they have been focusing on, and they feel that it’s working for them in elections,” Pierce said.
Pierce added that the Indiana High School Athletic Association and local schools have their own regulations on transgender girls competing in girls’ sports.
The Indiana General Assembly enacted legislation that made it illegal for transgender girls to participate in K-12 girls’ sports in 2022, despite Gov. Eric Holcomb seeing the movement as unnecessary. Indiana’s Republican lawmakers overrode Gov. Holcomb's veto of the legislation.
Rokita’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
