The war between American parents and progressive politicians with an agenda of indoctrination is heating up with the passage of the Parental Bill of Rights Act through the U.S. Congress on March 24 by a margin of 213-208.
Covered by much of the mainstream media as another GOP foray into the culture war, the bill is actually an anodyne, common-sense piece of legislation that merely seeks to ensure that parents are involved in the education of their children.
The Parental Rights Act would require public school districts to be transparent, publicly posting details of curriculum being taught to students as well as supplying lists of books and other materials made available in student libraries.
In addition, the bill would make it mandatory for school boards to receive parental feedback as well as offer a minimum of two in-person parent-teacher meetings per year. The Parental Bill of Rights Act avoids specifics, meaning that if a majority of parents are in favor of the sorts of LGBT books and other lessons that have become the subject of protests across the U.S., they would be entitled to contribute that feedback.
According to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Parental Bill of Rights “has five pillars to ensure parents have the right to have a voice in their kids’ education: Right to know what’s being taught in schools and to see reading material; Right to be heard; Right to see school budget and spending; Right to protect their child’s privacy; [and] Right to be updated on any violent activity at school.”
All of this, of course, should be uncontroversial. This bill is not creating new parental rights so much as recognizing existing rights that have, over the past decade, been increasingly ignored or trampled.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant.