HCS HB 482 Baker, Ben Committee
HCS HB 482 -- PUBLIC EDUCATION RIGHTS
SPONSOR: Baker
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education by a vote of 11 to 5.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 482.
This bill adds compensation and benefits for public employees, including employees of public institutions of higher education and public school districts and charter schools, to the Missouri Accountability portal database (Section 37.850, RSMo).
The bill creates the "Parents' Bill of Rights Act of 2023" and provides a list of rights that parents may require school districts that receive federal or state money to follow. Rights listed in the bill include but are not limited to:
(1) The right to review curricula, books, and instructional materials;
(2) The right to visit school during school hours, receive school records, and be notified about situations that affect their minor child's safety; and
(3) The right to have sufficient accountability and transparency regarding school boards.
School district restrictions are also outlined in the bill and include:
(1) Limits on nondisclosure agreements to review curriculum or for IEP meetings and certain other meeting and hearings specified in the bill;
(2) Allowing student involvement in school assemblies, field trips, or other extracurricular activities without written authorization from the parent;
(3) Biometric data collection; and
(4) Public meeting requirements that allow public comment.
Each school district and public school must notify parents of all reported incidents pertaining to student safety including, but not limited to, any felony or misdemeanor committed by teachers or other school employees.
Each school board shall adopt policies that will ensure accountability and transparency for parents in the district as outlined in the bill, and employees of the school are prohibited from coercing a minor child from withholding information from a parent.
The bill provides details on civil actions that may be taken against a school district and provides that withholdings from state funding may occur for noncompliance (Section 161.841.).
This bill establishes the "Teacher Bill of Rights" and provides an affirmation of the effect that teachers have on a student's learning environment.
The bill provides a description of rights for teachers, including but not limited to the following: (1) Teachers have the right to be free from physical abuse from a student or a parent of a student; (2) To be protected from oral, written, or electronically generated abuse;
(3) To be evaluated for competency by an administrator;
(4) To be treated with civility and respect as a professional;
(5) To be free from any requirement by school administration to perform tasks unrelated to such teacher's employment;
(6) To be provided classroom preparation time each day during the regular classroom hours; and
(7) To remove any persistently disruptive student from such teacher's classroom.
School districts are required to inform parents, students, and teachers of these rights and provide a copy of such to each teacher at the beginning of each school year. Districts shall post the rights in a prominent place in each school and administrative building, and provide a copy to a parent of each student who attends a school. Districts shall also post the rights listed in this section on their website (Section 168.781).
This bill requires that beginning in the 2024-25 school year that all school districts and charter schools post on the school's website the approved school curriculum that will be used for pupil instruction. Any changes to the curriculum must be updated on the website within 30 days and notice must be provided in a form of written communication with parents. Any curriculum that is trademarked or copyrighted may not be widely disseminated to the public.
The bill requires that districts and charter schools provide a link to the library management system for the district or charter school for parents to access book title, author, and bibliography information, along with a system for notification of any book accessed by a parent's child.
The bill provides details on civil actions that may be taken against a school district and provides that withholdings from state funding may occur for noncompliance Section 170.231).
The bill outlines additional ideas related to Title IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that teachers and students cannot be compelled to adopt, affirm, or profess including but not limited to: that individuals of any race, ethnicity, color, or national origin are inherently superior or inferior and that individuals, by virtue of their race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, bear collective guilt and are inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, ethnicity, color, or national origin. Students, parents, or teachers may file a complaint with the DESE or the state Attorney General for violations (Section 170.355).
This bill is similar to HCS HB 1858 (2022).
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that protection for parental rights and transparency in the schools is very important. Knowing what a student is supposed to be learning and preventing a district from indoctrination of students is of vital interest. Having access to a school's information will help parents choose what district to live in and provides more of an opportunity for families to make a choice about what district or school best meets the needs and ideals that such family holds.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Baker; Missouri Baptist Convention; Heritage Action for America; Missouri Century Foundation; and the Opportunity Solutions Project.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill say that this will prohibit subjects from being discussed based on the whim of the day and does not foster a healthy educational environment. This will impact minority groups and limit conversations that are diverse and healthy for students to partake in. This language is unnecessary as districts are public entities and parents already have the access and rights that they need to see curriculum or participate in their student's educational experience.
Testifying in person against the bill were Jere Hochman; Jere Hochman; Cheryl Lynn Adelstein, Jewish Community Relations Council; Jamie Scott Howard; Pro Choice Missouri; Jere Hochman; ACLU of Missouri; Missouri NEA; Amy Hammerman, National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis; Calvino Hammerman; Heather Fleming, Missouri Equity Education Partnership; Jeremy Brok; and Linda Uselmann.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.