Republicans fulfilled one of their big campaign promises on Friday when the House passed the Parents Bill of Rights Act. It has no chance of becoming law, not with Democrats controlling the White House and Senate. But it still offers an important window into how the congressional GOP views the ongoing war on education that’s being waged around the country.
The legislation isn’t a complete nightmare. Some parts of it make sense and could have easily been a bipartisan effort, including a requirement that parents be notified when violence occurs on school grounds and a ban on schools selling student data for commercial purposes. The bulk of it, though, was drafted as a blueprint for the harassment of teachers, administrators and school boards that has escalated over the past three years.
The bulk of it though is drafted as a blueprint for the harassment of teachers, administrators, and school boards
Those confrontations have been part of a supposedly grassroots movement from parents who believe that schools have gone too far in their liberalism. Often it turns out that whatever concerns are being expressed — Covid mitigation in classrooms, teachers pushing “critical race theory,” or pro-LGBTQ materials “grooming” students” — are getting amplified and coordinated through groups that just happen to be filled with Republican operatives. Accordingly, no matter the actual topic, the volume of their shouting has become fodder for a broader political strategy from Republicans.
During Virginia’s gubernatorial race in 2021, Glenn Youngkin successfully positioned himself with suburban voters as just a guy who wants to let parents have a say in their children’s education. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in tandem with his state’s GOP-dominated Legislature, has pushed the envelope further, launching a blitz of policies that curtail teaching about race, sex and gender in the state’s schools. From North Dakota to Missouri to Texas, “parental rights” are at…
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