Opinion | You Just Cant Tell the Truth About America Anymore – The New York Times

Last month, for example, the Indiana House of Representatives approved a bill not yet signed into law that would limit what teachers can say regarding race, history and politics in the states classrooms. Under the law, schools could be held liable for mentioning any one of several divisive concepts, including the idea that any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish responsibility, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individuals sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin or political affiliation.

The bill would allow parents to allege a violation, file a complaint, sue and even collect damages (up to $1,000). It would also, in the name of transparency, create curriculum review committees for parents and require schools and teachers to post lists of material on websites for parents to inspect.

In South Carolina, lawmakers have introduced a bill known as the Freedom from Ideological Coercion and Indoctrination Act that would prohibit any state-funded institution from stating that a group or an individual, by virtue of his or her race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, heritage, culture, religion, or political belief is inherently racist, sexist, bigoted, ignorant, biased, fragile, oppressive, or contributive to any oppression, whether consciously or unconsciously. If signed into law, this bill could make it illegal, for instance, for teachers and college professors in the state to criticize members of a white supremacist group since that affiliation might count as a political belief.

Schools that repeatedly distort or misrepresent verifiable historical facts or omit relevant and important context or advertise or promote ideologies or sociopolitical causes or organizations could face a loss of state funding, state accreditation or tax-exempt status. As for what these violations would actually look like? The bill does not say.

The most disturbing efforts to monitor schools and teachers for wrong-think involve actual surveillance. Bills introduced in Iowa and Mississippi would install classroom cameras that would stream lessons over the internet for anyone to observe. The Iowa bill, which died in committee this week, would have forced schools to place cameras in all K-12 classrooms, except for physical education and special-needs classes. Teachers and other staff members who obstructed cameras or failed to keep them in working order would face fines of up to 5 percent of their weekly pay for each infraction.

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Opinion | You Just Cant Tell the Truth About America Anymore - The New York Times