As a parent and an educator, I strongly oppose this bill.

Public education should expand knowledge and understanding, not suppress it. A lot of beautiful, brilliant, and challenging art, literature, and history includes realities and perspectives that this bill could effectively erase from classrooms. That would be a huge disservice to our kids, educators, and society as a whole.

If a parent objects to ideas or materials in a classroom, they should discuss it with their children at home. Have a dialogue, exchange views, encourage your child to form their own opinions and ideas, rather than dictating which art, literature, and history they're allowed to see and think about.

If this bill must be enforced, then parents who object to educational material should be allowed to request different material for their kids only. Parents should not be able to deny other students' access to an education designed by trained educators.

I also think the onus should not fall on a teacher to plan a specialized curriculum for a child whose parents object to certain teaching material. Teachers do so much already with so little time, too few resources, and low pay. They don't need yet another creative, cognitive, and time-consuming burden on their plate.