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“I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education.” For months, this has been screamed out of control at school board meetings, PTA meetings, and weekly protests.
Relax, it’s just part of the “take our country back” mantra.
Wagons are again circling as the now politiziced issue of parental rights has taken its seat in the classroom. Protesters want to dictate and create their children’s education. However, there is a third word which should be added – participate.
CAN THEY PASS THE TEST?
Here’s a quick participation primer to see if they are up to the task:
1) Know their kid’s teacher’s names and know what classes they are taking.
2) Assist in opening a school at 5 a.m.
3) Sit in the main office an hour before school and answer the no less than 25 calls from parents asking 25 different questions.
4) Be a lunchroom monitor; afterwards clean up the disaster.
5) Help teachers teach.
6) Lend a hand after school as they check work and login grades.
7) Have an evening zoom call with teachers until 10 p.m. as they wrap-up learning plans.
8) Chaperone a fieldtrip.
9) No matter the time, attend PTA meetings.
10) Participate in Career Day.
11) Always avail yourself to the school at a moment’s notice.
12) Substitute a class.
Now that’s being in charge of your kids’ education.
THIS IS SO SILLY
So many ways this is laughable, but in reality, it’s not. In Indiana, Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita recently introduced a Parents Bill of Rights which asserts “education policy and curriculum should accurately reflect the values of Indiana families.”
In our very own Florida, the legislature passed an even more comprehensive bill assuring that the state and its public schools cannot infringe on the “fundamental rights” of parents. A growing number of states are allowing parents to sue districts that teach banned concepts.
And in Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin has made parents’ rights a centerpiece of his campaign for governor, (election was 11/2) staging “parents matter” rallies and declaring, “I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education.”
WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
Given this frenzy, one might reasonably conclude that radicals are out to curtail the established rights that Americans have over the educational sphere. Yet what’s actually radical here is the assertion of parental powers that have never previously existed.
This is not to say that parents should have no influence over how their children are taught. But common law and case law in the United States have long supported the idea that education should prepare young people to think for themselves, even if that runs counter to the wishes of parents.
Courts have found that parents have great authority when it comes to deciding how to raise and educate their children. This right, however, does not mean that public schools must cater to parents’ individual ideas about education. Parents can opt out of the public system if they wish, and pay to send their children to private or religious schools.
THAT’S A LOT OF THINKING
Take 100 parents and you will get 100 different thoughts on how children are educated. Which parents will win and get their way under that scenario? That is why the majority elects school boards so they can make the decisions. Parents of course have input and school boards should listen but a few loudmouths shouldn’t be allowed to override the will of the majority.
This “take our country back” mentality begs the question, “take it back from whom?” If you demand that public schools teach a curriculum consistent with your personal preferences, what do you propose to do about the personal preferences of other parents who are also citizens and taxpayers that may differ from yours?
Footnote: I hope some do not deem this a classroom Critical Race Theory comment – but the only group allowed to use the phrase “take our country back” are Native Americans.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Consulting. He can be reached at 305-788-4105 or email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
