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2022 — The GOP supermajority in Indiana’s General Assembly proposes a bill prohibiting discussion of latent racism and sexism in classrooms, and allowing for lawsuits to be brought by parents who don’t know the meaning of the terms “racism,” “sexism,” or “latent.” The bill dies. However, the GOP successfully does away with all prerequisites for owning and carrying firearms. The General Assembly also prohibits private businesses from inquiring into the vaccination status of their employees or patrons.
2023 — A modified version of the 2022 education bill passes, this time with stiff fines added for teachers who insinuate that gender is a spectrum or that the Civil War was about slavery. Many teachers resign when the law goes into effect; others slowly trickle out as they find jobs in other states. A bill fixing the price of all new firearms at less than one hundred dollars, and all ammunition at less than fifty cents a round, narrowly passes.
2024 — Faced with an unprecedented teacher shortage, Indiana’s General Assembly declares the whole experiment of public education to be a failure and votes to abolish public schools altogether. A loose network of charter schools, 90% of which are operated by churches, appears to fill the void. Anyone with a high school diploma is allowed to teach K-12. To subsidize tuition at these schools, sales tax is…
