Iowa lawmakers consider bill to put cameras in classrooms, let parents watch

A new bill in the Iowa legislature would require cameras to be placed in nearly every K-12 classroom in the state. 

The cameras would allow parents to view livestreams of their children’s lessons, according to the legislation.

Only physical education and special education classes would be exempt under the bill known as HF 2177. It is the latest in a string of legislation introduced by conservatives across the country to give parents more influence over what happens in classrooms. 

Advocates for teachers are criticizing the effort as an attempt at censoring classrooms and intimidating educators who teach potentially controversial subjects.

Should the bill become law, teachers, administrators and other staff who deactivate or obstruct the cameras could be fined up to 5% of their weekly salary. The cameras would be purchased with funds already allocated in the school budgets. 

The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Norlin Mommsen, a Republican who represents a rural district in eastern Iowa. He said the purpose of the bill is to “increase the involvement of parents in their children’s education.”

Education groups and unions voiced their disapproval. 

“Some politicians around the country want to limit not only what history our kids can learn about and what books they can read, censor the truth of our history in some cases, and, now in Iowa, they want to install classroom cameras for live monitoring of teachers,” Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, the largest educators union in the U.S., told NBC News.

“Instead of wasting public funds on monitoring equipment, we should employ additional qualified professionals, reduce class sizes, and provide more programming that helps students acquire the skills they need,” Ms. Pringle said.

Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek didn’t mince words, calling the bill “completely outrageous and dangerous.”

Iowa is far from the only place introducing legislation like this. 

In just the first three weeks of 2022, more than 70 bills across 27 states were introduced to regulate the instruction of subjects such as race, history and sexuality in public schools, according to an analysis by the free-speech advocacy group PEN America.