House Republicans Introduce a Bill of Rights for Parents

House Republicans recently announced legislation that would establish a bill of rights for parents sending their children to K-12 schools. The bill, similar to legislation already passed in some red states, is part of a broader culture war over the material that is being introduced to children in these learning institutions. It follows revelations over the past three years about the infusion of far-leftist ideology on race, gender identity, and sexuality being infused into the curriculum in many public school districts.

House GOP Introduces Parents Bill of Rights

The legislation, which is named the “Parents Bill of Rights Act,” is intended to “make clear to parents what their rights are and clear to schools what their duties to parents are,” according to a Committee on Education & the Workforce fact sheet. The proposal covers five rights that Republicans argue parents should possess when it comes to their children’s education.

The first deals with the right to “know what their children are being taught,” meaning that school districts will be required to “post curriculum information publicly,” provide “a copy of any revisions to the state’s academic standards or learning benchmarks,” give parents “timely notice” of plans to “eliminate gifted and talented programs,” and furnish “a list of books and reading materials available in the school library.” The second argues that parents “have the right to be heard.” In this vein, teachers must provide at least two in-person meetings with parents annually. School boards would be required to allow parents to “address the school board on issues impacting the education of children in the school district.” Officials and educators would be required to “respect the First Amendment right of parents as well as their right to assemble and have a say in the child’s education.”

The third right indicates that “parents have the right to see the school budget and spending” while also providing a “public disclosure of school district budgets and each school’s budget.” The fourth addresses children’s privacy. It forbids schools from sharing “student data with tech companies without parental permission” and allows parents “a way when schools develop or update their student privacy policies and procedures.” It also mandates that parents must “consent before any medical exam takes place at school,” which includes “mental health or substance use disorder screenings.”

The fifth and final section says parents possess “the right to keep their children safe.” This means that schools must “notify parents of violent activity occurring on school grounds or at school-sponsored events while still protecting the privacy of the students involved in the incident.”

“You have a say in your kids’ education, not government and not telling you what to do,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). During a conversation with ABC News, McCarthy also said he “couldn’t imagine someone would oppose a Parents Bill of Rights.”

He continued:

“Parent gets to guarantee[d] to know what their children are being taught, parents gets to know what their money is being spent on. … More importantly, the parents get to know if there is any activity on campus that could harm their child or not.”

What Are States Doing to Protect Parental Rights?

The legislation being proposed at the federal level is similar to what some states are already putting into place. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott last year promised parents he would work with the state legislature to protect their rights over their children. “Parents will be restored to their rightful place as the preeminent decision-maker for their children,” he said at a campaign event.

The governor also argued that part of parental rights is exercising school choice. He said, “empowering parents means giving them the choice to take their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.” Abbott vowed to protect Texas students from “obscene content” in their schools after Texas schools began removing books that he called “pornographic” and “overtly sexual and pornographic acts” in a letter he wrote to the state’s board of education.

In Georgia last year, the legislature passed its own version of a parents bill of rights. The law formalized access to instructional materials and created a “review period,” during which parents can look at all of the curricula that will be used to educate their children. However, some of the provisions in the measure were already enshrined into law previously.

For example, the 2022 law allows parents to opt their children out of sex education and gives them the power to prevent the creation of videos, photos, and voice recordings. These decisions were already protected under prior legislation. State Rep. Josh Bonner, the Republican who authored the bill, said the purpose of the overlap was to bring these measures into one place in the Georgia Code. “It may be duplicative, but it also brings it into one place, it’s easy to find, and easy to follow, and get everybody on the same page, not only the parents, but also schools,” he explained.

Florida last year also passed legislation designed to beef up protections for parent’s rights after having already passed a law for that purpose in 2021. The Parental Rights in Education Act stirred up quite a bit of controversy when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he was championing the measure. The law prohibits teachers from instructing kids younger than seven on sexuality and gender identity. It also contains provisions requiring the district to provide information regarding instructional materials and prevents schools from engaging in medical treatment without first consulting with parents.

The law was widely panned by Democratic politicians and members of the activist media, who deceptively referred to it as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”

Is This Another Step Toward Protecting Parental Rights?

With Democrats holding the Senate and the White House, it seems unlikely a parents bill of rights will be enacted at the federal level anytime soon. Progressives are still staunchly opposed to any legislation that would empower parents and disallow districts to operate as they please.

Nevertheless, now that the cat is out of the bag about what the hard left has been doing in schools, seems at least some states are working on the issue. Even in 2023, there are a plethora of news stories highlighting how teachers are trying to introduce concepts related to critical race theory in the classroom. Districts are being exposed for helping minors socially – and sometimes medically – “transition” to the opposite gender without informing parents. In California, the progressive state legislature has passed a law that would make this easier.

It is worth noting that even if a parents bill of rights cannot be enacted at the federal level, this could change if and when Republicans regain control of the Senate and the White House after the 2024 elections.