GOP Sen. Hawley will introduce “Parents’ Bill of Rights”

Fox News reports that Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), with a new piece of legislation, is looking to “empower” parents against the “woke bureaucrats” who have taken over schools. 

What the legislation, which Hawley has yet to formally introduce, does is lay out a series of rights that parents have with regard to their children’s education. Accordingly, the legislation is being referred to as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”

The legislation, altogether, would make explicit eight parental rights. They include:

1. The right to know what their minor child is being taught in school, including, but not limited to, curricula, books, and other instructional materials.
2. The right to information on who is teaching their minor child, including guest lecturers and outside presenters.
3. The right to information on individuals and organizations receiving school contracts and funding.
4. The right to visit the school and check in on their minor child during school hours.
5. The right to all school records, medical or otherwise, concerning their minor child.
6. The right to information about the collection and transmission of their minor child’s data.
7. The right to have sufficient accountability and transparency regarding school boards.
8. The right to know about situations affecting their minor child’s safety in school.

In addition, the legislation will require school board meetings to focus on “curricula, safety, and other student issues” and to be “held in public and allow for public comments.”

Background

We have seen a lot of bad come from the coronavirus pandemic, but we have also seen some good. And, one good is that parents, thanks to remote learning, became aware of the leftist indoctrination centers that our educational institutions have become.

Accordingly, parents began to speak out at school board meetings against such things as the teaching of Critical Race Theory, that is, the idea that America and White Americans are inherently racist.

In response, President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ), at the behest of national education officials, has urged the FBI to investigate the so-called threats made by parents during school board meetings. Those “threats,” it ought to be noted,” remain undefined by the DOJ, suggesting that the target is nothing more than parents passionately exercising their free speech rights to speak out about their children’s education at school board meetings.

The issue of education came to a head during the recent gubernatorial election in Virginia, where exit polls indicated that education was the second most important issue for voters. Republican Glenn Youngkin beat out Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who, at one point during his campaign, said “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Many are taking Youngkin’s victory as a sign that Americans are rejecting the Democrats’ education agenda.

The “Parents’ Bill of Rights” is Hawley’s response

Hawley released a statement explaining the motivation behind his bill.

“America has long recognized the right of parents to direct their children’s education but we are now seeing a concerted effort by the Left to shut parents out,” he said. “Whether it’s Joe Biden’s Justice Department attempting to classify parents as ‘domestic terrorists’ or activists funded by dark money who seek to quietly introduce critical race theory into school curricula, education has taken a back seat to radical politics in many schools and parents are taking notice.”

Accordingly, Hawley said that “it’s time to give control back to parents, not woke bureaucrats, and empower them to start a new era of openness in education.”

This is going to be a difficult piece of legislation to oppose.

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