Say NO to SB171 :: Behavioral Health Curriculum

Representatives need to hear from you.

SB171 Behavioral Health Curriculum (Thatcher) –
USBE and Huntsman Mental Health Institute to create Curriculum

Quick rundown on this bill’s pitfalls:

Lines 37-39 put the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the State Board of
Education over developing a youth curriculum to increase awareness about behavioral health challenges facing youth in the state.

Mental and behavioral health are personal and private issues, best addressed by families and parents who know their kids best.

Who knows how the State board and the Huntsman Mental Health Institute are going to frame “Behavioral Health Challenges”?

This bill designates Behavioral Health information as “curriculum,” meaning that the State Board can tie assessments, make instructional requirements, etc. around it using its Administrative Rulemaking authority.

Teachers have been complaining for years about having no time to teach the academic basics, and who knows how much more this will take away from valuable instructional time?

Teachers are NOT trained, certified, or qualified to act as proxy mental health practitioners. It’s unethical and beyond their paygrade that the administration of a Behavioral Health curriculum should fall to teachers.

All the state does, year after year, is roll out one “we can fix your kids” bill after another, and yet none ever delivers on what’s promised. Broad state-sponsored systemic solutions to highly individualized personal problems are not the answer.

Parents will have no say in, no oversight over this curriculum and that’s not right. If lawmakers are serious about helping kids, they can’t leave parents out of the process.

2pm – House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice committee,
30 House Bldg