A reader who signs in as CarolMalaysia described the latest education-related laws passed in Indiana:
She writes:
These are some of the new Indiana laws that will take effect on Saturday. [Indiana is run by the GOP and they have NO respect for public schools or teachers.] Gary is a poverty area and they cannot vote for their school board members. 87% of Hoosier children attend public schools and they are continuously underfunded.
Book bans — Every public school board and charter school governing body is required to establish a procedure for the parent of any student, or any person residing in the school district, to request the removal of library materials deemed “obscene” or “harmful to minors.” School districts must also post a list of the complete holdings of its school libraries on each school’s website and provide a printed copy of the library catalogue to any individual upon request. (HEA 1447)
Charter schools — The proceeds of each new voter-approved school funding referendum in Lake County must be shared with local charter schools in proportion to the number of children living in the school district who attend charter schools. Beginning July 1, 2024, all incremental property tax revenue growth at Lake County school districts must be shared on a proportional basis with local charter schools. (SEA 391, HEA 1001)
Gary schools — A five-member, appointed school board is reestablished for the Gary Community School Corp. to eventually replace the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board as the governing body for the formerly cash-strapped school district. Gary’s mayor and the Gary Common Council appoint one member each, and the three others are chosen by the Indiana secretary of education, including at least one Gary resident, one resident of Gary or Lake County, and a final member from anywhere. (SEA 327)
Diane Ravitch's blog 
These are some of the reasons that I advocate so passionately for Democracy in Education and its freedom of thought and all of our liberty interests and freedoms as Americans and human beings. I want my grandchildren to be able to read controversial books in schools and be able to discuss them with highly educated professionals who know how to engage in such discussions properly. Democracy requires elected school boards elected by the people of each and every community. In my view unless the Board of Education is elected by the people — it is not a public school.
At issue in my local school District in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, is “To Kill a Mockingbird” one of my favorite books to read and teach. I taught it back at University City H.S. in Philadelphia’s most poverty ridden school. My class of all black students loved the book and we discussed in depth all of the issues raised in it. .
The essential question of school governance is — Whose School Is It?” That is the title of a book I wrote a decade and a half ago.
I did not have any idea that Democracy itself would be the most important issue of our Day!
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