MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate passed legislation requiring public schools to post information about teaching materials and curriculum online on Thursday.
The bill requires public pre-K-12 schools to post the curricula used in each classroom on the school website at the beginning of each school year or within 30 calendar days after a new or revised curriculum is adopted.
The posting will be verified by the local superintendent of education and local board of education, according to the legislation.
State Senate Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) told reporters on Thursday, “The whole focus with this legislation ‘Parents Right To Know” was a priority for me from word that I’d gotten from parents and from educators who were interested in this.”
“The opportunity is to say how can we take all of the information that’s going on in a child’s education as far as the syllabus, reading materials, and those kinds of things and put those on a website that becomes available to parents and guardians. That was wildly popular with everybody that I talked to and felt like that was great information to have. I had conversations with school boards and superintendents who said the more information we provide to parents about what’s going on with their children’s education, the more engaged parents become,” he added.
State Rep. Matt Woods (R-Jasper) is sponsoring the legislation in the House.
An amended version of the legislation passed the Senate on Thursday. The amendment allows teachers to respond to the request of any parent, custodian, or guardian to examine teaching materials by providing a “detailed summary, by email, telephone, or other electronic means, of instructional materials adopted by the local board.”
According to the amendment brought by Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), a parent or guardian who would like further information or to physically examine any instructional materials used in the classroom may request that the local board of education allow that examination at the next work session of the board.
“I’m OK with parents having the ability to know what’s going on in the classroom with their children. I think every parent should have that right. It was just the process of taking away the instructional time that a teacher may have to do in teaching a child instead of meeting with parents during that classroom time,” Singleton told reporters on Thursday.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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