Indiana Online Transparency Tool Makes Teachers Think Twice, State AG Says

Classrooms are open to public criticism in Indiana—regardless of whether it is K-12 or higher education.

One high school advertised a college fair reserved for African American students with a grade point average of 2.5 or higher. Two middle school employees engaged in an email argument after one of them allowed only Hispanic children to participate in a Rosca de Reyes celebration. A college lecturer in a teacher training program celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk in a social media post labeling it as “karma.”

All these events could be viewed on the Hoosier State’s “Eyes on Education” portal. As the tool marks its second anniversary, Attorney General Todd Rokita and members of his staff say this kind of peer and public pressure has served to deter teachers from pushing divisive ideologies that conflict with the Indiana Parents’ Bill of Rights.

“It’s a passion project,” Rokita told The Epoch Times. “It has had a demonstrative effect. It has already changed behavior.”

Many of the submitted items include the name and contact information of the contributor. Rokita said everything posted on the site is verified to make sure it really happened and falls within the Parents’ Bill of Rights. His office does not evaluate submissions for possible legal violations. In many cases, a situation that may arise is handled by the individual school district or the state education department.

The number of complaints in response to the Charlie Kirk murder posting warranted a separate category on the portal. The AG’s office referred all of them to the State Department of Education, which has the authority to pull teacher licenses.

“Schools are well within their rights to terminate a teacher who causes disruption,” Blake Lanning, assistant chief deputy to the attorney general, told The Epoch Times.

Erin Tuttle, policy director for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, said several teachers, even in rural districts, had promoted “gender support plans” for children without informing parents. Most of the complaints in those instances came from other teachers.

“We put the lid on quite a few of these,” Tuttle told The Epoch Times. “Once it’s exposed, they stop it.”

The tool is controversial, Rokita said, largely because the complaints are not removed, even after they are resolved. Updates and clarifications are posted next to the complaints, however.

He said teacher unions and the American Civil Liberties Union sometimes take issue with Eyes on Education, but have found no grounds to challenge it in court.

“We’ve had formal threats,” he said. “We’ve steamed much of the establishment.”

Following the Kirk murder posting in September, the Indiana State Teachers Association pushed back against the AG’s office.

“While celebrating violence is unacceptable, threatening educators’ license for lawful speech risks silencing those who are teaching honestly or sharing personal views responsibly,” the union’s Sept. 18 statement said. “In this moment, our focus should be on keeping students safe and supporting classrooms and communities. Political violence threatens our democracy, but so does censorship.”

Tuttle said she’s not aware of any teacher license revocations in the past six months.

Not every incident portrays educators in a negative light. After high school students took a quiz that identified where they fall on the political spectrum based on their views, a principal responded to a complaint from a parent accusing the school of campaigning for one side. The principal explained that the quiz was set up in a way that gave every student a chance to share their viewpoint.

Rokita said that while he encourages other states to follow suit, he believes there’s little political will or interest elsewhere because of potential pushbacks and threats of litigation.

“They want to do a lot of sweeping under the rug,” he said.

The Parental Bill of Rights and Eyes on Education collectively reaffirms the principle and practice that school children are not government property, Rokita said.

“The key question is, would you feel comfortable sending your kid to these teachers? That’s what the portal does,” he said.

“Take control of your bad teachers. Take control of a bad culture where it exists.”