A schools superintendent speaks with Rolling Stone about the Republican attorney general’s witch hunt to expose “trans-sanity” in public schools

When Indiana’s Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita launched Eyes on Education — an official state website that he says seeks to expose “socialist indoctrination” of students and “trans-sanity” in schools — educators targeted by the site were caught completely off guard.

Paul White is the superintendent of New Prairie United Schools, outside of South Bend. “I found out when it became live,” he tells Rolling Stone. But when he saw why his district was among those highlighted for supposedly unacceptable policies, White was confused. “The document that they had on their website related to our school system was no longer in use. It had only been used for about 60 days. And it had been replaced for almost two years now.”

Rokita’s office has claimed that the “objectionable curricula, policies, or programs affecting children” that are posted to its site are fully reviewed and verified. But White insists that is hogwash: “There was zero due diligence,” he says. This lack of considered process may be a pattern.

  • GrymEdm@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This is just government-enabled witch hunting prompted by political and religious outrage/fear and backed by shoddy verification. It’s also not free - tax money is being spent on what, given the obvious lack of safeguards, is little more than mob justice.

    White did not hold back in his reply to Youngs: “It is beyond concerning that the highest legal office in the state of Indiana… vetted nothing, gave me no chance prior to publication to respond, and now you have published your website and we have to ‘prove’ what I submitted to you is true. This is sad and I have no respect for it,” he wrote. Sounds like a reasonable take on this hot mess.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I did my duty, I snitched on Gary School for Cats. Maybe next I’ll see about writing a script to submit more concerning school behavior. Would be a shame if their entire website was filled with nonsense.

    • SarcasticMan@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I wrote a long letter for the Snitch site last time it was posted informing them of the insidiousness of that no-pants-wearing pervert Winnie the Pooh and how much I disagreed with it being available in the school library.

  • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Sure would be a shame if someone found a wealthy, suburban school district in Indiana and submitted hundreds of complaints about students getting gender affirming care (like breast implants and nose jobs).

    • ____@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      That is my absolute intent bc the whiny/bitchy perspective is irrelevant to me.

      W/ that in mind…. I tend to think I’d be OK w/ a teen going a/ it, running away across the border,etc.

      If I can’t house them directly, I’d gladly to anything I can to contrib to the same.

      Comes down to three simple words; “How can I help?”

      Not convinced there aren’t the most imp 3W in Eng.

      U can be wrong at (your thing, none of my biz) - just don’t force it on me.

    • ____@infosec.pub
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      9 months ago

      A propos of nothing…

      Feel like perhaps we should do voice, and we might have parallel ideas about how the word needs to work.

      I think I see that you have some RBL perspective, and we can go from there.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Because educators are so easy to come by these days, what with the low pay, shitty administration and whack job school boards, and overcrowded classrooms, etc etc.

  • blazera@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    I’ve been careful not to water down this word, but this is nazism, this is a government effort to identify and segregate a group for the purposes of punishing and removing.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The attorney general website pledges the office will use “our investigative tools, including public records requests” to probe materials it believes could violate Indiana law.

    In the case of New Prairie, the Eyes on Education site posted, for public opprobrium, the district’s old “Gender Support” policy, originally crafted in August 2022.

    White attached copies of the current plan, highlighting that “parents will be informed in all instances when a transgender student comes forward to request gender transition considerations.” He asked that the old policy be removed.

    White did not hold back in his reply to Youngs: “It is beyond concerning that the highest legal office in the state of Indiana… vetted nothing, gave me no chance prior to publication to respond, and now you have published your website and we have to ‘prove’ what I submitted to you is true.

    A Rokita spokesperson defended posting outdated materials on the website in a statement to Rolling Stone: “Even if a lesson plan or policy has changed, it’s important for parents to see what the adults in their child’s school are capable of.”

    But as a Cuban American, he’s particularly alarmed by other documents highlighted on the site — posted from a nearby school district — that simply alert students to the availability of minority scholarships at local colleges.


    The original article contains 1,123 words, the summary contains 217 words. Saved 81%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!