An alliance of Indiana teachers unions is demanding that state Attorney General Todd Rokita take down a portal he set up earlier this month to essentially spy on educators. Citizens can use the “Eyes on Education” portal to report on so-called “woke” educators and expose “examples of socialist indoctrination” in classrooms across the state. Rokita was even more explicit in an interview for Fort Wayne television station WTPA in which he said the portal would help combat what he called “left wing nonsense” and “trans-sanity.”
Leaders of six teachers unions representing more than 4,000 educators posted a letter on social media on Feb. 11 expressing concern about the accuracy of documents posted on the portal, the IndyStar reported. The letter from the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association said the portal also compromises teachers’ privacy and safety by posting their personal information. “Furthermore, the Attorney General is weaponizing a government website for his personal benefit. This further breeds misplaced mistrust in Indiana teachers, pitting teachers against the communities they willingly serve,” the letter added.
The portal reflects a nationwide drive by conservative politicians and right-wing organizations like Moms for Liberty to restrict what students learn about race and gender. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin set up a similar concept as a tip line in 2022 for parents to report “divisive” content in schools. It was shut down within months after a poor response and defeat for his administration in a public records lawsuit filed by media organizations.
In Arizona, the state’s Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne set up an “empower hotline” last year to take reports of “inappropriate” school content, particularly regarding race and gender ideology, but it received about 30,000 prank calls and emails, and only a handful of genuine complaints, the Arizona Mirror reported.
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