Post-Trump, schools boards still attacking parents even under current Trump Administration
"Local school boards are still following Obama and Biden era instructions to treat parents as criminals," says Eugene Delgaudio, president of Public Advocate.
HAT TIP TO Sam Sorbo joins Cheryl Chumley of the Washinton Times
K-12 DIVE REPORTS ON THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT:
DOJ to crack down on 'rise in abusive conduct' against parents
In a memo to U.S. attorneys and the FBI, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi cited a "disturbing trend" of silencing parents on curriculum issues.
Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Justice Department warned on Monday that public schools must provide parents with avenues to opt their children out of instruction related to sexuality and gender ideology - or risk being put under the microscope by the federal agency.
- The memo, issued by U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, directed Justice's Civil Rights Division "to be alert" to violations of parental rights at schools and for U.S. district attorneys nationwide to weed out and respond to "credible threats against parents."
- "While schools must maintain order, such authority cannot be used as a pretext to silence dissent or punish parents for expressing their views," Bondi wrote in her memo to all 93 U.S. attorneys and FBI Director Kash Patel. "Let me be clear: when school board members, administrators, and other government officials threaten law-abiding parents, they can and will be held accountable."
COPY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI WARNING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS ATTACKING PARENTS
Dive Insight:
Bondi cited a "rise in abusive conduct" by "government actors" against parents, noting that "conspiring" to violate constitutional rights is a federal crime.
The letter referenced the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which justices found that Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools violated parents' rights when it didn't allow them to opt students out of LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum based on religious objections. The state's largest school district had originally allowed parents to exclude their children from the curriculum, but it backtracked after what it characterized as a high number of opt-out requests creating "unworkable burdens" for educators.
Bondi's Sept. 8 memo pointed to "a disturbing trend" in recent years of state and local officials ignoring, dismissing and in some cases retaliating against parents who opposed curriculum decisions in public schools.
Photo Credit: Public Advocate President Eugene Delgaudio speaks to world media about then-President Barrack Obama violation of federal law in his September 2009 visit to public schools nationwide on Labor Day.