Every state must safeguard parental involvement in schools.
The Importance of Parental Rights in Education
The public school supply list includes everything a kid could possibly need: glue sticks and sharpened pencils; Kleenex and hand sanitizer; highlighters and erasers; Band-Aids and snacks.
But what the long inventory of required items does not include is the thing every child needs most: his parents to be notified and involved in what is happening in his life.
Sadly, in many public school districts across the country parents can no longer assume that their decisions about the upbringing, education, and care of their own children will be honored. In these instances, politically motivated school boards and administrators have usurped the role of parents. As we continue to see instances nationwide of government officials actively seeking to replace parents as the ultimate determiners of what’s best for children, it’s critical that states step up to enshrine parental rights into law.
What kind of rights are we talking about?
The right and responsibility of every parent to decide how his or her child is raised. The rights of moms and dads to know what their children are being taught in school and to access and review curricula. It’s reasonable to expect parents to be involved in all aspects of their kids’ education, including opting a child out of a particular lesson on say, gender ideology, human sexuality, or another sensitive topic so that parents can discuss those topics at home in a way that is consistent with the family’s beliefs and values. As parents, we also want to be involved in our kids’ extracurricular activities. Whether a child signs up for football or dance, joins the LGBTQ or chess club — every parent has the right to know that information, and along with her child, decide if that activity is the best fit for the child.
Additionally, we’re seeing a troubling trend of school districts excluding parents — going so far as to deliberately hide information — about their kids’ potentially life-altering decisions surrounding their identity, gender, and mental and physical health. It’s in kids’ best interest for parents to be involved any time a child faces serious issues at school, whether academic, social, or mental or emotional health.
The state of Montana recognized the importance of enshrining parents’ rights into law and recently enacted gold-standard legislation that creates guardrails to prevent the government from interfering with parents’ fundamental right to direct the education, health care, and upbringing of their children. In North Carolina, the legislature recently overrode the governor’s veto to enact strong, pro-parent policies; Iowa and Alabama also passed strong parental rights laws. In Oklahoma and Virginia, the respective departments of education issued proposed rules and policies that strengthen parental rights. And in Arizona, parents now have three of the best statutory protections for their rights: a declaration that parental rights are fundamental, a detailed list of parents’ specific rights to access and approve of learning material, and a legal remedy if those fundamental rights are violated.
Other states should join the movement and affirm the pivotal role of parents in a child’s life. As the Promise to America’s Parents underscores, safeguarding parents’ rights through the democratic process ensures transparency so that parents know what is going on in their child’s life. It gives parents meaningful choices as they guide their child’s growth and development. And it empowers parents to hold government officials accountable when they interfere with decisions parents make. By passing parental rights laws, legislatures from coast to coast can give parents confidence and assurance that they’re so valuable, lawmakers are preserving their ability to do their job well in the state books.
Furthermore, when policymakers enact parents’ rights legislation, it trickles down much quicker to the local level by prompting school boards to operate with accountability and transparency and to adopt policies that support parents.
No one loves and cares for a child better than his parents. And no parent wants the government telling them what they can and cannot do. The family unit is the pillar of society and parents are the head of that unit. Respecting the rights of parents to be involved in their kids’ education and make the best decisions on their behalf transcends political party, religion, race, and economic status. Everyone benefits — especially children — when parents are supported.
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom and is the director of the ADF Center for Legislative Advocacy.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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