The GOP-led House has recently reintroduced Parental Bill of Rights legislation.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) announced the new bill at an event with parents on Wednesday. Together with them were the House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Chairwoman Republican Conference Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and other Republican lawmakers.
Today, @SpeakerMcCarthy, along with @HouseGOP, moved forward with the #ParentsBillofRights to ensure American parents & children are safe from progressive indoctrination in our schools. pic.twitter.com/Ie8qK4AjgQ
— Aaron Bean (@RepAaronBean) March 2, 2023
The Parents Bill of Rights Act would see several new transparency requirements for public school districts. The bill would also expand parent-child privacy protections, prohibiting schools from subjecting students to mental health or physical exams without parental approval.
Today we stood with parents and their children to introduce the #ParentsBillofRights. Families deserve transparency on what is happening in the classroom. pic.twitter.com/h3qUKJ3qvw
— Congresswoman Erin Houchin (@RepHouchin) March 1, 2023
At the event, Mc Carthy, on behalf of the House, justified the bill by saying it is common to find parents being attacked and called terrorists for approaching school boards and speaking up. He added that the legislation is binding right from when a child is enrolled in kindergarten.
.@SpeakerMcCarthy: “so many times across this nation, we found that parents were attacked, called terrorists, that they simply wanted to go to the school board meeting to be heard about what's going on, the right to see the school budgets and how they spend their money.” pic.twitter.com/JNC0c4YQfg
— The Hill (@thehill) March 1, 2023
The bill will also require public school districts to share their curriculums with parents in an understandable manner. Likewise, parental consent is required to enable their kids to participate in surveys, while schools are prohibited from monetizing student information for commercial or financial gain.
My Parents Bill of Rights is about transparency and accountability. It provides protections to parents and ensures that a child’s education is always built on a meaningful dialog between families and educators.https://t.co/BeckESlUtg
— Congresswoman Julia Letlow (@RepJuliaLetlow) March 2, 2023
The Parental Bill of Rights provision, as intended by the GOP-led House, is already in play in some states in the U.S. According to the Hernando Schools Website, last July, the Parents Bill of Rights became law and ensures that parents maintain the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the care and upbringing of their child in the public school setting.
Foxx, who is also passionate about the bill, commented on the situation.
“Unfortunately, the education bureaucracy has branded parents with a scarlet letter, as if to suggest that these dedicated moms and dads are nothing more than radicals who should be pushed away from their child’s educational growth and personal development,” Foxx said in a statement.
The Washing Exerminer also reported that Foxx found the situation abhorrent and entirely antithetical to Americans’ values. She concluded that the Parents Bill of Rights would support parents’ rights movements across America. She said it is important to emphasize that parents are the primary stakeholders in their children’s education, and nobody can prove otherwise.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/mccarthy-house-gop-reintroduce-parental-bill-of-rights
