Give Parents Their Rights

Let's Empower Parents !

We need your help right now on a parental rights bill. Sorry for the last minute nature of this alert. It's how things unfold down in Juneau the last few weeks of the legislative session.

Last week, a new bill - Senate Bill 89 - was filed by Senator Mike Dunleavy that recognizes the right that parents have to direct the education of their children.

SB 89 requires local school boards to adopt policies that ensure parents have the right to object and remove their child from any school program that they conclude is harmful to their child. This would include any class or program regarding sex education or human reproduction.

Whenever a school intends to make a presentation regarding these subjects, they need to give parents at least two weeks notice, provide parents an opportunity to review the content of such a presentation, and require the parent’s written permission before their child can participate.

Sound like good common sense to you? It does to me. Like many other parents, my wife and I pay taxes – LOTS of taxes – to help support our local public schools. Think of parents as the customers, and schools as the service provider – in this case, a service provider that has a monopoly on taxpayer funds.

So what happens when the schools use our tax money to undermine and attack the values we teach our children at home? Sadly, that’s not a theoretical question. Imagine that your 7^th grade child goes to school one day, and instead of the normal teacher they have an employee of Planned Parenthood – America’s No. 1 abortion provider – giving a talk to the kids about sex and abortion. Imagine that employee asking these impressionable young people, “How many of you are sexually active?”

The situation I’ve described above is exactly what parents in Sitka reported to us, and it understandably led to an uproar in the Sitka School District. More than 150 residents signed a letter to the school board opposing the presence of Planned Parenthood in their local schools.

Senator Dunleavy’s bill, if enacted, would ensure that parents are put back in the driver’s seat – and that such controversial topics can only be taught when a parent specifically consents to it, after having the opportunity to review what is being taught to their child.

It may be common sense – but rest assured, we’ll hear noisy opposition to this bill. Most likely it will come from public education bureaucrats, who will wring their hands about how burdensome it is to actually respect the authority of parents – you know, the customers who actually pay for the service of having their children educated.

ACTION ITEM: Contact the members of the Senator Education Committee. Ask them to support SB 89 – and to sign on as cosponsors. Thank the Chairman of the committee – Senator Dunleavy – for introducing this important bill.

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Senator Mike Dunleavy, Chairman

907-465-6600

[email protected]

Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice-Chair

907-465-3878

[email protected]

Senator Cathy Giessel

907-465-4843

[email protected]

Senator Gary Stevens

907-465-4925