To the Editor: Parents should have a greater role in public education

Throughout American history, parents have had a fundamental right to the legal and physical custody of their children. The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed those rights in the Washington vs. Glucksberg Case of 1997. The Court found that, “The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children.”

During the COVID lock-downs, millions of American were able to witness the education their children were receiving. Many parents were angry, confused and wanted answers to a series of important questions. Sadly, in far too many cases, they were told they were not entitled to see the curriculum being taught or to have any input into the process. Former Virginia Democratic Governor, Terry McAuliffe, famously said, “There is no role for parents in school curriculum.”

Certain parents were even denied opportunities to speak at School Board meetings, they were harassed, lied to, and information about actual sexual assaults of their children were covered up. 

In response, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, The Parents Bill of Rights. The bill does not ban books nor does it discriminate against any student regardless of their age, creed, race or sexual identification. What it does is give parents the right: to know what’s being taught in public schools, to see the reading material, to be heard at School Board Meetings, to see the school budget and spending allocations, to protect their child’s privacy and to obtain an update on any violent activity at school.

These are common sense solutions. You might expect every member of the House of Representatives to support them. Sadly, this was not the case. Every voting Democrat including local representatives Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton voted no. They could not support a single improvement because, those who bankroll their campaigns, the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, had loudly told them they strongly opposed this legislation.

The fact that not a single Democrat would allow parents to have a say in their children’s education shows how extreme this party in Washington, D.C. has become. Their loud message is: Parents stay home and shut up. The teacher’s unions and not you know what is best for your children!

If you are a parent who cares about the education of your children, you may want to contact Virginia’s two Democratic Senators and demand that The Parents Bill of Rights be debated this year.

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