The War Against Parents by Schools and States

Teachers Mandated to Lie and Omit Information from Parents

States and school districts throughout the United States are implementing laws and guidelines that undermine parents’ right to information about their children. Parents have a constitutional right to make judgments about the upbringing of their children, including in the sphere of education. But can they make those judgments if states and schools prohibit parents from learning information vital to their children’s well-being? In particular, many states are allowing schools to keep parents from learning about their children’s change of gender identity and the counseling they are receiving in that regard. 

A century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that parents have a constitutional right to choose how to bring up their children and that this right is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment (Meyer v. Nebraska, 1923). The Fourteenth Amendment states, “No State shall … deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.” The Court in Meyer established that “without a doubt, [liberty] denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to … marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.” 

The Court continued, “The [Northwest] Ordinance of 1787 declares, ‘Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” The Court thus not only highlighted the right of parents to make decisions concerning their children’s upbringing, protected by the right to liberty, but it also established that the right to liberty in the Fourteenth Amendment protects the right to worship God. It therefore made clear that individuals not only have the right to decide their religion, as stated by the First Amendment, but also to make decisions regarding religion, morality, and any other matter that relates to raising and shaping the mentality of their children. The Court even reaffirmed that religion and morality are necessary to the happiness of individuals. 

Then, in 2000, the Supreme Court stated in Troxel v. Granville, “In light of this extensive precedent, it cannot now be doubted that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.” The Court, thus, reaffirmed that parents’ rights with respect to the upbringing of their children are fundamental and should receive a high degree of protection. 

Putting Minors in Charge

So then, why are states such as New York, California, and Oregon dismissing this right, and doing so over ideas that are not protected by the Constitution? Such states are favoring the promulgation of alternative cultural views in the classroom, especially those related to sexuality, and are disregarding parental rights in the process. 

In June 2023, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) issued a new guidance to school districts, titled “Creating a Safe, Supportive, and Affirming School Environment for Transgender and Gender Expansive Students,” which stated, “The student is in charge of their gender transition…. Some TGE [transgender and gender expansive] students have not talked to their families about their gender identity because of safety concerns or lack of acceptance and may begin their transition at school without parent/guardian knowledge.” Moreover, when “TGE students disclose their gender identity to school personnel . . . it is important that school personnel receiving this information keep it confidential, unless the student explicitly states otherwise.” 

In Oregon, not only is the state Department of Education instructing schools to hide information from parents, but the legislature enacted a bill in 2023, called House Bill 2002, which allows minors, as young as 15 years of age, to acquire gender-related surgeries without parental consent. And, in its 2023 guidance for schools, titled “Supporting Gender Expansive Students,” the Oregon Department of Education tells school districts, “To the extent possible, schools should refrain from revealing information about a student’s gender identity, even to parents, caregivers, or other school administrators, without permission from the student.” These laws and school guidelines not only allow minors to make life-changing decisions on their own; they also encourage them to defy the authority, advice, and guidance of their parents. 

Contrary to the messages sent by authorities in New York and Oregon, the Supreme Court in 1979 asserted the inability of minors to make proper judgments on their upbringing and reaffirmed its constant holding that parents are best suited to decide whether a life-changing decision would be beneficial or detrimental to their child’s wellbeing. In Parham v. J.R., the Court stated, “The law’s concept of the family rests on a presumption that parents possess what a child lacks in maturity, experience, and capacity for judgment required for making life’s difficult decisions …. Most children, even in adolescence, simply are not able to make sound judgments concerning many decisions, including their need for medical care or treatment. Parents can and must make those judgments.”

By putting minors in charge of their own upbringing, schools are explicitly denying parents their constitutional right to make decisions for their own minor children. Moreover, not only are they preventing parents from acquiring the information necessary to assess the state of their children’s mental, physical, and spiritual health, but they are also defying parental decisions that don’t align with the child’s judgment. 

Hiding Crucial Information from Parents and Forcing Teachers to Lie 

Even in conservative states, such as Alaska, Idaho, and Kansas, a war against parents by schools is being waged. In Alaska, the Anchorage School District has issued administrative guidelines that allow faculty members to hide information about students’ gender from their parents. The district’s guideline, called “Working with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students and Employees,” declares, “Generally, notification of a student’s parent about his or her gender identity, expression or transition is unnecessary.” In Idaho, the Middleton School District guideline, titled “Gender Identity and Sexual Education”, disregards the Supreme Court’s language on parents’ rights, asserting instead, “School employees should not disclose a student’s transgender status or sexual orientation to other individuals, regardless of setting, including the other school personnel or (in the case of middle school, junior high school, and high school students) the student’s parents/guardians, unless they have a legitimate need to know or unless the student has authorized such disclosure. Action in violation of such student confidentiality may subject an employee to discipline, up to and including possible termination and for certificated personnel, a report to the Professional Standards Commission.”

From analyzing the clear language of the Supreme Court in conjunction with the Fourteenth Amendment, one can easily see the discrimination that parents, especially conservative ones, face in some states raises to an unconstitutional level. Parents cannot make the best decisions for the well-being of their children if schools and states forestall them from obtaining vital information. As Troxel highlights, parents have the right to make such decisions because their children do not have the maturity or life experience to understand the consequences of their choices. States ought to bear in mind that the Supreme Court has reaffirmed in several cases that parents have a constitutional right to “direct the upbringing and education of children under their control” (Troxel, quoting Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 1925). Purposely withholding information constitutes a violation of parental rights because it denies parents the knowledge they need to make good decisions for their minor children. 

Fighting Back 

Throughout the nation, parents are having to defend a right they already have in accordance with the Constitution and as affirmed by the Supreme Court. Some state legislatures are helping them by bringing up bills protecting parental rights, with regard not only to schools but also to other areas of life. For example, Florida enacted the Parent’s Bill of Rights in 2022. Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina have enacted similar laws, and other states are in the process of doing so. Such laws help ensure that parents become aware of the ideas being taught and promoted among their children in school and how these ideas may affect their well-being. 

On the federal level, H.R.5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act, passed the House of Representatives in March 2023; However, it did not pass the Senate. The bill would have been a major win for parents since it reaffirms parents’ legal right to be made aware of a child’s change of gender, pronouns, or of sex-based accommodations at school as well as access to school curricula and teaching materials. The bill would have been especially helpful for parents in states whose policies ignore or seek to override their rights. 

Parents should inform themselves of the situation in their state, and take it into account in making choices for their children’s education and even, where feasible, in choosing where to live. The choice to live in one state versus another could mean the difference between retaining and losing the freedom to raise their children in accordance with their own values and to guide them in the making of crucial choices. 

This article was first published by Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity.