Parental rights in education bills are making their way through the local and state levels because parents are rebelling against the entrenched left-wing education bureaucracy and teachers’ unions.
In New Jersey, the parental rights movement scored a victory when the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a parental bill of rights in education. Fox News noted that the commissioners approved the bill because of their concerns about the New Jersey sex education standards, which the commissioners called “disturbing.”
The New Jersey Department of Education issued the concerning education standards, which were met with an uproar by parents, because it required second grade students in public schools to be taught lessons on gender identity starting in fall 2022. The state standards have a list of “performance standards” which include a discussion of “the range of ways people express their gender and how gender role stereotypes may limit behavior.”
Due to the parental uproar, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy ordered a review of the standards on the grounds that “any proposed educational content that is not age-appropriate should be immediately revised by local officials.”
The Monmouth County commissioners, in approving the parental bill of rights, said the state standards were “both disturbing and concerning to the parents and citizens here in Monmouth County and throughout the state of New Jersey.” The resolution, in part, said it will serve “as a model for our county schools.” Here is an excerpt of the resolution:
“As a model for our county schools, as well as our local school districts, that will, among other things, protect our children, notify our parents of the curricula being taught to their children in our schools, and allow them to make their own decisions regarding their child’s education and exposure to sensitive information.”
The Monmouth County resolution specifically stated that the county commissioners “work with parents, community leaders and professionals to develop the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which will be used.”
In other words, county officials pledged to work with the parents in their community to develop a parental bill of rights. It is unclear whether the New Jersey Department of Education collaborated with parents on their controversial sex education standards.
The county resolution also issued a call to action for Gov. Murphy, the state legislature, and the Department of Education to “ban such highly sensitive curricula for our young children.”
Monmouth County’s parental bill of rights is not an outlier because other states have passed similar bills into law, such as Florida. These political developments demonstrate that parents have become fed up with gender identity politics making its way into their local public schools.
