The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that parents in the state will not be allowed to request certain school curricula under public records laws, because if there's one thing parents have too much of these days it's transparency about what's going on in their kids' classrooms.
Carol Beth Litkouhi, a mom and now a school board member, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to see what exactly was being taught in a high school class called "A History of Ethnic and Gender Studies." But the Rochester Public Schools told her to take a hike.
Rochester Community Schools partially granted her request by providing a unit plan for the course, which provided only limited information. It denied the rest of her request. Carol Beth appealed the decision on January 19th, 2022.
Rochester Community Schools denied the appeal on February 8. It emphasized that it had provided all the documents that responded to the request. The district said it denied the appeal because there were no other relevant documents.
And on September 25, the state's Supreme Court saw the appeal and denied it as well.
On Sept. 25, the state's top court denied an appeal filed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy on behalf of a Rochester parent who requested the curriculum for a class held in the Rochester Public Schools district ...
The district argued that the law did not require it to provide records held by teachers.
Wait, what?
So if the curriculum is sitting on the principal's desk, you can see it. But if it's on Mrs. Smith's desk down the hall, then tough luck?
The idea that transparency ends at the principal's desk is like saying, "Sure, you can see the menu… but we're not going to tell you what the chef is doing back there with those cats."
Here's a statement released by Litkouhi:
At the heart of my lawsuit was a simple but critical principle: Nothing taught in our schools should be under the cover of secrecy. If there is any reason why secrecy is desired or needed, that alone is a red flag. The Rochester School Board felt it best to keep classroom materials secret from parents. They took money away from classrooms to fight this fight. Sadly, they have now succeeded in setting a new, disturbing legal precedent.
"This isn't just about a single class in one school district," said Steve Delie, director of transparency and open government at the Mackinac Center. "The implications of this decision are enormous. It means that records held by local government employees across the state — whether they be teachers, police officers or township workers — are likely exempt from public disclosure, making it much harder for citizens to hold their local governments accountable."
Steve Delie from the Mackinac Center said, "The implications are enormous." And he's right. This ruling could mean local governments can dodge accountability simply by saying, "Sorry, the dog ate our homework. And by dog, I mean our employee who holds that information."
State Rep. Mark Tisdel — who seems to be one of the few grown-ups left in the room — has introduced a bill to close this ridiculous loophole by making the work of employees, contractors and volunteers of a public entity also subject to FOIA requests.
"If the work product of a public employee is paid for by taxpayer dollars, taxpayers have a right to see it," Tisdel told Michigan Capitol Confidential.
Keep up the good work, Mr. Tisdel!
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