SB 1225 - This act establishes the "Sunlight in Learning Act", which requires certain training, instructional, and curricular materials posted on a school website.
This act requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to ensure schools and charter schools publicly display instructional and training materials for teachers and learning materials and activities used for students on the school website.
The website shall include the title, author, organization and any website associated with the material or activity. The website shall also include the identity of the teacher or other person who created the learning material. Any activity that involves service-learning, internships or outside organizations, shall be included on the website, as outlined in the act.
All procedures for the documentation, review or approval of materials used for staff or faculty training or student learning shall be included on the website. A listing of available resources in the library shall be included on the website.
The information required on the website shall be displayed online prior to the first instance of training or instruction, or, at the latest, fourteen days after the training or instruction. The information shall be organized by school, grade, teacher, and subject, and be displayed on the website for at least two years.
Schools may use a collaborative online document or spreadsheet software to update the listing on the website. The listing shall be created and displayed in searchable or sortable electronic formats.
A school with fewer that twenty enrolled students and whose materials and activities are selected independently by instructors is not required to post a list of learning materials and activities on a website.
The Attorney General, Commissioner of Education, State Auditor, prosecuting attorney, or resident of a school district, may initiate a suit against the school district, public school, or public charter school or other governmental entity responsible for educational oversight if a violation of this act occurs.
Courts shall not entertain complaints unless complainants have first worked to remedy the situation by contacting school officials, who have fifteen days to resolve the situation, or by contacting the school board, who have forty-five days to resolve the situation.
No school officials shall purchase or contract copyrighted learning materials, including renewal of subscription-based materials where students are provided login credentials or access via electronic personal devices, unless provisions are made to allow parents and guardians of students to review the materials within thirty days of the submission of a written request to the school.
This act is similar to SB 810 (2022), SB 645 (2022), and HB 1995 (2022).
JAMIE ANDREWS