EDUCATION + SCHOOLS

Bill that would allow parents to sue teachers over curriculum substituted during general session

SALT LAKE CITY — The part of a bill that would have included the ability for parents to sue teachers if they didn’t like what was on the lesson plan is being substituted on Utah’s Capitol Hill. 

“A lot of teachers are teaching things they’re told to, right?” said Republican Sen. John Johnson, the bill’s sponsor. “We don’t really want them to be in the middle of that. So, when I was talking to my constituent, I just said, ‘You know what, that part is a mistake, and I can see how you’re reading it that way. I’m going to remove it from the bill’.”

The Utah Education Association called his bill an example of the “continued attack” on public education this legislative session. And it created a rift between parents and teachers.

“That was absolutely not the intent,” said Johnson. “It was, in effect, giving them place with the school boards and the State Board Education… reasserting that idea that they are primarily responsible for the education of their children.”

The bill is still in the Senate Education Committee. 

Related: 

• UEA President criticizes proposed bill, lawmakers are making ‘continued attacks’ on public education
• Controversial bill challenged by teachers now on hold
• Utah teacher retention lower than average, 42% leave in first five years
• Granite district to offer cash bonuses for substitute teachers

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