PARENTS HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT SCHOOLS ARE TEACHING!
Should parents be barred from providing input on the kinds of curriculum a school offers their children?
This has been an important question for Virginians over the years, and certainly the past sixteen months, as school boards across the state have become the epicenter for parents opposed to teachings incorporating the core tenets of “Critical Race Theory” and LGBTQ+ ideology.
During last night’s gubernatorial debate, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe essentially answered this question when he said:
“I’m not going to let parents go to schools, and actually take books out, and make their own decisions.”
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what to teach.”
Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin had reminded the audience about two bills passed by the General Assembly in 2016 and 2017 that McAuliffe vetoed that would have ensured school districts informed parents if their kids were being taught sexually explicit material, and would have allowed parents to opt their children out of that material. In an attempt to show why some parents might not want to expose their kids to certain materials, a state senator attempted to read an excerpt from one of the books in question, but his colleagues asked him to stop because there were children present (student pages).
If it’s appropriate for a school classroom, then why isn’t it appropriate for the Senate floor? We all know the answer to that question – the material is too offensive!
A similar incident happened at a Fairfax County School Board meeting, when a mother read aloud excerpts from two books found in a Fairfax public school library – Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, and Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison – both of which contain sexually explicit content and endorse pedophilia. As the mother was speaking, school officials appeared to cut her off, exclaiming that there were children in the audience!
How obtuse (to be kind) must you be to object to sexual material being read because there may be children present when you have no objections to the same material being easily accessible to children in their school libraries?
Fairfax County Public Schools has temporarily suspended the two books from the library until a review of students, staff, and parents is conducted. In other words, when all the controversy regarding school library books dies down, we’ll return them to the shelves.
Of course this effort to undermine parental authority isn’t limited to localities like Fairfax and Loudoun. In July, The Family Foundation sent an email letter to Beth Costa, principal of Henley Middle School, asking her to clarify why her signature appears on a petition calling for parents’ opt-out rights to be denied. Multiple educators from the Albemarle Public School district also signed on to the petition. Dated May 31, 2021, the petition states that “parents of children in Albemarle County Public Schools should not be given the option to opt out of critical lessons,” including racial and “LGBTQIA+” topics.
It’s important for parents to be reminded of some very important laws The Family Foundation helped shepherd through the legislative process that protect their rights when it comes to their children’s education:
A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.
The act codifies the opinion of the Supreme Court of Virginia decision in L.F. v. Breit, issued on January 10, 2013. The key term or phrase in this law is “fundamental right,” which is a right that is considered by a court to be explicitly or implicitly expressed in a constitution, and any review by a court requires strict scrutiny.
§ 22.1-207.2. Right of parents to review certain materials:
Parents and guardians have the right to review the family life education program offered by their school division, including written and audio-visual educational materials used in the program. Parents and guardians also have the right to excuse their child from all or part of family life education instruction.
In addition to the current opt-out provision, this law allows parents to have access to complete FLE written instructional materials, including summaries of any audio-visual content, through an online parent portal.
§ 22.1-207.2:1. Anti-bullying or suicide prevention materials; parental right to review
Each school board shall develop and implement policies that ensure that parents have the right to review any audio-visual materials that contain graphic sexual or violent content used in any anti-bullying or suicide prevention program. Such policies shall require that prior to using any such material, the parent of the child participating in such a program shall be provided written notice of his right to review the material and his right to excuse his child from participating in the part of such program utilizing such material.
Under law, parents must have the opportunity to review any audio-visual materials that contain graphic sexual or violent images used in conjunction with any anti-bullying or suicide prevention teachings at a public school, and the opportunity to exclude their child if they deem the materials to be too graphic. Parents are obviously most equipped to determine whether certain audio-visual aids are too graphic for their child.
My answer to the initial question we started with is: No, parents do not forfeit their parental rights at the parking lot of any school, and the voices of parents must be recognized, respected, and honored.
The well-being and upbringing of children is the responsibility of parents, not the government!
