Free Republic

A half dozen states in recent years have enacted laws that aim to give parents more authority over what and how their children are learning. Individual districts and the U.S. House of Representatives have also passed their own versions of these policies, known as parents’ bills of rights. They vary by jurisdiction, but they often restrict instruction on race, gender, and sexuality, particularly at younger grade levels. Some require parental permission before a student can use a name or pronouns that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth. The policies can also give parents more latitude to opt their...

Abigail Martinez, a mother who lost her daughter to suicide, is seeking justice and protection for families facing similar situations. First Liberty Institute has submitted a brief to the Supreme Court on her behalf, urging the court to uphold parental rights in a case involving the removal of a child from Christian parents due to their religious beliefs about sexuality. Abigail’s daughter, Yaeli, struggled with depression and sexuality, and was ultimately taken from her home and given gender-transition treatments without parental consent. (Trending: Top Democrat Loses In Historic Landslide) “My child was a number in the system. I don’t want...

Republican messaging on “parental rights” in education is having an effect on New Jersey voters, and that could spell trouble for Democratic state lawmakers in November, a new poll shows. Election Day is less than three weeks away, and with all 120 seats in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature on the ballot, both sides are trying to shape the narrative on a range of hot-button issues. New Jersey residents generally favor Democrats over Republicans in the upcoming election, with 42% of likely voters saying they’ll vote for the Democratic candidate in their district compared to 26% in favor of the Republican...

On Wednesday, thousands of Canadian protestors standing for traditional family values and the protection of childhood innocence swept into Ottawa, the capital, for the “much-anticipated Million Person March” to voice their opposition to the grooming and indoctrination of children in the public school system. From LifeSiteNews: This morning [Wednesday], thousands of concerned parents, children and citizens descended upon Canada’s capital of Ottawa, and other cities across the country, for the much-anticipated Million Person March against LGBT indoctrination in the nation’s schools. Exclusive footage from LifeSiteNews shows at least 3,000 pro-family Canadians having gathered near Parliament Hill at the Ottawa protest,...

A Maryland district court denied parents’ appeal to reinstate an opt-out policy in Montgomery County Public Schools on Thursday. The case, Tamer Mahmoud v. Monica B. McKnight, hinged on whether the district’s May decision to rescind its opt-out policy for LGBT curricula violated parents’ right to direct the religious instruction of their children. The court concluded that, “the plaintiffs’ asserted due process right to direct their children’s upbringing by opting out of a public-school curriculum that conflicts with their religious views is not a fundamental right.” Parents sought a preliminary injunction that would authorize opt-out options once school begins on...

The Department of Defense (DOD) has quietly implemented controversial adolescent health policies throughout the military health system (MHS) that kick in when children turn 12 years old. Because the official policies are hard to find and are not posted publicly at base clinics, most parents are shocked to find out that doctors prefer to treat their adolescent children in a completely parent-free setting. Parents are outraged to be treated as if they cannot be trusted to guide their own children. Here is my story detailing a quest for answers on why online medical record access is limited and why I...

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” the Book of Proverbs says. To certain right-wing Christians, the concept is simple: A child can be broken, or stamped into shape, much like any domesticated animal. Though all parents hope they’ll pass their values onto their children, for some that hope is more of a mandate. My own parents believe that Proverbs is the word of God, and they believed, too, that a righteous upbringing would produce an adult in their image. Who can blame them? The idea...

When it comes to parental bills of rights, not all legislation is created equal. The House on Friday narrowly passed House Resolution 5, known as the Parents Bill of Rights Act, which would amend existing federal education laws. A Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution also has been proposed. Multiple pieces of proposed legislation at the state level seek broad protections for parents, using language such as to “direct the upbringing” of their children. ... The proposed laws have fueled questions about the role parents should play in their children’s education. At the same time, they have fanned partisan...

AOC is on the House floor flailing around like a chicken again, this time over a Republican-sponsored bill that would -gasp- give parents more of a say in their children's education. Specifically: "The Parents Bill of Rights has 5 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." This is, of course, horrifying...

A new undercover audio recording released by Freedom Families United, a group that specializes in exposing educators and systems pushing “woke” policies, appears to show a New Mexico School Boards Association trainer, Andrew Sanchez, teaching school board members anti-parent policies.“We’re going to start basic ... power of the board. You… shall have the following power: to develop educational policy for the school district,” Sanchez says. ~snip~He told the school board members in training, “Remember, your most powerful governing tool is the power of the pocketbook. The school district doesn’t do anything unless you’re going to fund it, right? These are...

...Query: Don’t parents have rights over what our kids read? Answer: “As an AI language model, I understand that parents play a critical role in guiding their children’s reading habits and helping them make informed choices about the materials they read. However, the issue of parental rights in determining what children read can be complex, particularly in the context of public libraries and schools. “Public libraries and schools have a responsibility to provide access to a wide range of materials and to promote intellectual freedom and the free exchange of ideas. At the same time, they also have a responsibility...

Child vaccination rates dipped into dangerous territory during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools were shuttered, and most doctors were only seeing emergency patients. But instead of recovering after schools reopened in 2021, those historically low rates worsened, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts fear that the skepticism of science and distrust of government that flared up during the pandemic are contributing to the decrease. According to today’s data, the percentage of U.S. children entering kindergarten with their required immunizations fell to 93% in the 2021-22 school year, 2...

...The public school that Mrs. Bradshaw’s son attends is one of many throughout the country that allow students to socially transition — change their name, pronouns, or gender expression — without parental consent. Districts have said they want parents to be involved but must follow federal and, in some cases, state guidance meant to protect students from discrimination and violations of their privacy... Educators have also said they feel bound by their own morality to affirm students’ gender identities, especially in cases where students don’t feel safe coming out at home. (emphasis-added)...Other teachers believe they have a moral responsibility to...

"They brought this upon themselves." Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t going to let the Walt Disney Company come in from the cold anytime soon if comments Tuesday evening are any indication. Presented with regretful comments from Disney CEO Bob Iger about consequences for the company’s opposition to the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, DeSantis did not back down from previous critiques of the “Burbank-based” corporation. “We didn’t drag them in, Tucker, they went in on their own,” DeSantis said on Fox News. “And not only opposed the bill. They threatened to get it repealed. These are parents’ rights … important...

Virginia parents with differing viewpoints sounded off on school policies they say harmed children at Tuesday's Loudoun County Public Schools board meeting. One year ago, LCPS passed Policy 8040 to follow Virginia Department of Education guidelines put forth by the previous Democratic administration to protect transgender students. It requires employees to address students by their chosen "name and gender pronouns" and gives students access to the bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that match their gender identity. The decision sparked a backlash among parents, particularly because it did not require parents to be notified or approve of changes made to...

A group of moms are seeking to intervene in a case that overturned several of Minnesota’s “commonsense” and “bipartisan” protections for women and girls who obtain abortions. Among those protections was a two-parent notification law, which required both parents of a minor to be given notice 48 hours before their daughter’s abortion procedure. In a July ruling, Ramsey County Judge Thomas Gilligan, appointed to the bench by former Gov. Mark Dayton, struck down this and four other regulations that he deemed unconstitutional. These provisions included: 1. The “physician-only law,” which required abortions to be performed only by physicians. 2. The...

A federal judge is blocking a Kansas public school's policy preventing teachers from outing transgender students to their parents after the teacher raised religious objections. Fort Riley Middle School math teacher Pamela Ricard sued USD 475 Geary County Schools over LGBTQ anti-discrimination policies that conflicted with her Christian beliefs. District Judge Holly Teeter issued a preliminary injunction on Monday blocking the school from disciplining Ricard if she reveals preferred names and pronouns of her transgender students when communicating with their parents. "The Court relies on Plaintiff’s statements that she does not intend to communicate with a parent for the sole...

Schools are becoming indoctrination factories, trying to turn children against their country and their own parents' values. It's what the teachers unions intend. Amazingly, that's just fine with resident Joe Biden, who told a gathering of teachers and union bigwigs on April 27 that the kids are "yours when they're in the classroom." That wasn't just a Biden stumble. He repeated it for emphasis: "They are all our children ... They are not somebody else's children." Sorry, Joe. But parents have a right to know what their children are being taught, and to set limits. State legislators in at least...

See, it’s important that you not use undeniably accurate terms to describe our enemies because by doing so you may convey truthful information that hurts liberals and, according to our conservative cruise ship betters, that’s not who we are. Well, that’s certainly not who they are, because if there’s one thing they simply cannot accept it is victory. And that includes victory over perverts who what to chat up your young ‘uns in kindergarten. Accordingly, we are not supposed to call groomers “groomers” anymore because people draw the right conclusions when we do, and that certainly will not do. If...

The Goldwater Institute is a leading free-market public policy research and litigation organization that is dedicated to empowering all Americans to live freer, happier lives. We accomplish real results for liberty by working in state courts, legislatures, and communities nationwide to advance, defend, and strengthen the freedom guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States and the fifty states. The following column is by Nicole Solas, a mother in Rhode Island and a client of the Goldwater Institute.I’m just like any parent—when I enrolled my daughter in kindergarten, I wanted to know what she would learn. In response, our school...