Parental Rights and How the Public School System is Undermining Them
Throughout our nations’ history we have seen the unit of parents and schools working alongside each other to raise and properly educate America’s youth. However, at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, parents began to recognize that their rights and authority when it came to their child’s education were slowly diminishing. As a result of this realization, parents and educators expressed their concern and support for parental involvement within public schools (ADI).
The Code of Virginia (§1-240.1), states that a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child. Many would assume, and rightfully so, that this would enshrine parents’ rights and authority over their child. However, time and time again concerned parents and even some teachers have raised the concern that public schools are blatantly hiding information and sexually explicit content from parents. One teacher in particular would be Tanner Cross who is a school teacher at Leesburg Elementary school in Loudoun County. He voiced his opposition to the school board’s transgender policy and as a result was suspended from his job (ADF). Attorneys from ADF filed on behalf of Cross, and the Loudoun County School Board granted him a permanent injunction, which forced them to not retaliate against Cross for his expression of his constitutionally protected views towards the transgender policy (ADF).
As Christians, we are called to walk in obedience to biblical principles. One aspect of God’s creation is His desire for authority, respect and obedience for children towards their parents. We see throughout the Bible the danger and consequences of what happens when God’s children abhorrently disobey Him and go against His desires, (Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV). Throughout the Bible we also see how God’s intended design and institution of the family is torn apart by disobedience.
The Issue.
The original scope and plan for education in the United States has drastically shifted to that of a major governmental overreach that involves indoctrinating school-age children giving parents little control or insight over the material itself. Virginia legislators have repeatedly voted down legislation that would ensure transparency within the public schools.
During this past session, the Senate Education and Health committee stopped (SB275 and HB1034). SB 275 would have provided for additional oversight over library materials. The language of the defeated bill would have required public schools to allow for parents and the community to give consent to library materials being purchased or donated, and ensured that parental consent was given in order for a child to check out any library material that contained sexually explicit material.
HB 1034 would have required the DOE to write guidelines requiring parental notification and consent for school counseling. As the Virginia Code directly states, parents have the right and authority to raise their child and over the years, public schools have increasingly been encroaching upon that right. One specific incident involving a school counselor, would be in Fraser, Michigan at Richards Middle School. A school counselor sent an email out to the school faculty instructing them to hide the name and pronoun that the student goes by during school hours, and only use their birth name and biological pronouns when in communication with the parents, as they were unaware of the child’s transition FoxNews.
Alliance Defending Freedom along with Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed against a Wisconsin school district, Kettle Moraine in late 2021, on behalf of two sets of parents, for pushing gender ideology on a 12-year-old student - against the parents’ wishes – causing the student to present as the opposite gender and adopt a new name. The school district has a policy that permits a student to transition to a different gender without parental consent and in some cases, even against the parents’ objection Daily Caller. The parents decided against sending the child back to the school district.
There is also the issue of compelled speech - forcing someone to speak something that violates their deeply held religious beliefs or conscience. One such example would be a case filed in Harrisonburg, VA with (Alliance Defending Freedom ) who is representing a group of teachers and parents. The Harrisonburg City Public School Board implements a policy that if a student requests opposite-sex pronouns, the faculty and staff is required to use them, and is forbidden from sharing this information with parents about the child’s request. This policy forces school faculty to lie and deceive parents all in the name of inclusion (ADF). Numerous other school boards across the state have policies implemented that blatantly usurp parental rights granted to parents in the state, and an example would be in Chesterfield County public schools. Chesterfield has a policy in place that condones the act of parents not being given consent of their child’s requested gender status UNLESS otherwise requested. Yet another Virginia school district that has diminished parental authority would be in Fairfax. Their transgender policy forces school faculty and staff to affirm a students’ gender either from the consent of the student or parent.
Over and over again, concerned parents and teachers have seen that the authority of parents has been diminished within the public school system.
Where can we go from here?
Currently in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the growing movement of parents and teachers expressing their frustrations towards school boards is the expected response by a group of people who simply realize that something must be done to correct this lack of respect for parental authority within public schools. While Governor Youngkin did sign into law a piece of legislation (SB656) that focuses on parental notification prior to the instruction of any sexually explicit material - This legislative achievement is due to the hard work of pro-family groups and citizens who helped champion the formation of this bill back in 2016 that was ultimately vetoed by former Governor Terry McAuliffe.
As we’ve seen with the passage of SB 656, positive outcomes can happen when parents across the Commonwealth stand up for their rights and fight against the worldview that rejects God’s design for family and the fundamental right of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children. It is of the utmost importance for us to not lose hope and cling to what the Lord calls His children to, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12, ESV).
By Ann Melise Mullins (2022 Intern)