Madison, WI – Today, Governor Evers vetoed SB 463, a bill which required school districts to post their curriculum and learning materials online in a format that parents could easily find and understand. In response, Sen. Stroebel (R-Saukville) issued the following statement:
“I am very disappointed, but not surprised, that Governor Evers vetoed Representative Behnke’s and my bill to improve school district transparency. Public documents are found online more and more as we continue in the digital age. A parent should not need to file an open records request, and possibly pay a fee, to find out what is being taught in the classroom. This bill mandated only that our school districts make sought after public records easier to find.”
“How many times have we all seen reasonable people read the same document and disagree about its meaning or interpretation? SB 463 was a perfect way for Wisconsinites to productively engage in the disagreements about school curriculum without getting trapped in the rhetorical games of what is or is not Critical Race Theory, or any other term. Just show the materials to parents and they can make an informed judgment.”
“Lastly, this veto is particularly unfortunate because of its hypocrisy. In July the Governor vetoed the creation of a legislative human resources office, claiming it was because he didn’t want any potential barrier to the maximum possible public access to documents. That zeal for the public’s right-to-know, apparently, stops short of parents knowing what schools teach their children. I suspect many of his old school administrator buddies would rather not face public scrutiny for the curricula they put together. I guess now we’ll never know… and that was the point of this veto.”
Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) represents the 20th Senate District, which is comprised of portions of Ozaukee, Washington, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Calumet counties.
