Source: The News & Observer
State Republicans’ push to enact an extreme education bill may cost the state federal funding. According to The News & Observer, state education officials have raised concerns about the impact of Senate Bill 49 on federal funding and valuable information about student behavior.
Senate Bill 49, also known as North Carolina’s version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, bans lessons about gender identity, and sexual orientation, and educators would face the threat of disciplinary action if they refuse to out students to their parents.
The bill also requires parental consent before schools can give students a “protected information survey.” The survey features questions about mental or psychological problems, sex behavior or attitudes and “illegal, antisocial, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior”, according to The News & Observer.
“Some stakeholders, including this department, raised some concerns just about what this means for surveys that go out and data collection that we get from those surveys, and how that impacts federal guidelines and federal money that flows through the state,” Jamey Falkenbury, director of governmental affairs at the state Department of Public Instruction, told the State Board of Education. “We’ll continue to work with our General Assembly partners as we address those concerns.”
The News & Observer reported that state board vice chair Alan Duncan said the opt-in requirement would make it hard to get enough students to participate in surveys such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which includes questions about suicide, bullying, tobacco use and drug use.
“This is going to be a loss of really important information,” Duncan told the State Board of Education.
