Parental influence and say in public education should be a given, but not in the minds of entrenched liberal or left-wing teachers’ unions, education bureaucrats, and the media. As Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law went into effect this past week, which law was inaccurately dubbed as the “don’t say gay’ bill by critics, the Left became apoplectic.
The Washington Post railed against DeSantis and the parental rights law because it allegedly unfairly targeted the LGBTQIA+ community, despite the law’s explicit intention to shield young students from developmentally inappropriate sexual content or material. The law also empowers parents to sue school districts over their child’s education.
The law provision that went into effect was the K-3 portion, which prevents teachers for kindergarten to third grade to teach gender and sexual orientation. In other words, the law prevents left-wing activist teachers from trying to indoctrinate children between the ages of five to eight.
The other part of the law will go into effect after the Florida Department of Education develops age-appropriate and developmentally-appropriate guidance for students.
Florida led the way in passing a parental rights bill into law, and other states are following suit. But this has not deterred the Left, and in particular, the Biden administration from trying to impose its will to defang the law as much as possible.
The Biden White House issued a statement decrying the law as “discrimination, plain and simple.” It also claimed that the law is a “part of a disturbing and dangerous nationwide trend of right-wing politicians cynically targeting LGBTQI+ students, educators, and individuals to score political points.” Part of the statement claimed that the law is silencing the LGBTQIA+ community and led to ‘Safe Space’ sticker removals, instruction to not wear rainbow shirts and taken down family photos, without evidence. The White House said that students or parents should file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education.
Biden’s Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, said that the law puts “Florida students in danger of bullying and worse mental health outcomes.”
But none of the statements appeared to address the primary concern of the parental rights law of whether parents will be notified of gender identity-related issues when it comes to their child.
As always, the media is first to criticize DeSantis and parental empowerment in public education, without providing evidence of their allegations and criticisms.
