The Indiana House passed House Bill 1134, a controversial education bill, Wednesday evening. The bill will now move on to the Senate for consideration.
HB 1134 limits the teaching of topics related to race, religion and sexual orientation. The bill also gives parents more input into school curricula and opens the door for parents to sue when they feel teachers and schools are teaching inappropriate topics.
State representatives voted 60-37 mostly along party lines to pass the legislation. Indiana Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, voted against the legislation. Pierce represents the entire IU campus. Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville, who represents some parts of Bloomington and Monroe County, voted to pass the legislation.
Indiana teachers and Democratic legislators voiced their opposition against the bill at an event hosted by College Democrats for Indiana on Monday night.
A similar education bill, Indiana Senate Bill 167, was withdrawn earlier this month. The legislation’s main author, Indiana Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, drew controversy after stating teachers “need to be impartial” when they teach Nazism.
