Episode 288 Show Notes- What Are Your Parental Rights When It Comes to Your Child’s Education?
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Episode Description
We’ve seen a massive push toward ideological indoctrination when it comes to educating our children. Rather than teach students how to think, many believe that the education system exists to teach students what to think, including President Biden. The failures of today’s American education system are deep and numerous, and rather than focus on fixing the problems, some want to brainwash students in an attempt to create the next generation of political activists. So, what are your parental rights when it comes to your child’s education?
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Show Transcript- What Are Your Parental Rights When It Comes to Your Child’s Education?
*PA Strategies, LLC. earns a commission when you make a purchase through any affiliate links on this website and within this post.
Intro
Welcome to The P.A.S. Report Podcast.
Sadly, we witnessed two horrible mass shootings take place over the weekend. One in Buffalo, NY, and one in Orange County, California. The Buffalo shooting was done by a racist, white supremacist, killing 10, and we know his motive because we have his manifesto. The other was done by a Chinese person at a Taiwanese Church killing one.
It’s always horrible when these incidents happen, and of course, the left immediately politicizes it and makes it about gun control. As you know, I’ve been focusing a lot on the National Strategy on this podcast, and it would be nice if instead of targeting parents as domestic terrorists, they actually go after the people who are terrorists.
Instead of targeting free political speech on social media platforms, maybe they should be looking at the algorithms and wondering how those algorithms can shut down thousands of conservative accounts almost instantly, yet when it comes to cyberbullying and actual threats, they say it’s too difficult. Interesting how that works.
In any event, this episode is very important for anyone concerned about what’s happening throughout our education system. It’s no secret that the American education system has collapsed, and I’ve spoken about that since I started The P.A.S. Report Podcast.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen a big push towards ideological indoctrination. Gone are the days when students are taught how to think. Instead, they are treated like mindless bots and being told what to think. It’s an effort to create the next generation of political activists that blindly obey and comply with narratives that are being forced on them.
It’s shameful, and you have so many in positions of power who constantly denigrate parental concerns and parental rights. See, they believe that when the students are in the classroom, they are no longer your children. Rather, they are nothing more than products of the state.
So, the question becomes- what are your parental rights when it comes to your child’s education?
That’s what I’m going to explore in this episode because I’m hearing from a lot of parents who are thoroughly disgusted with the entire education system. They’re angry about what their children are being forced to learn. However, they don’t know what to do about it.
Before I jump in, make sure to click the follow button for this podcast so you never miss an episode, and don’t forget to visit The P.A.S. Report website and sign up for the newsletter.
NY Post Article
Before I get to the main topic, I briefly want to touch on the complete incompetence we are witnessing on an everyday basis. Not just incompetence, but there are also some nefarious forces out there. Over the weekend, I had a piece published in the NY Post. It was a good article, and I have the link to it on The P.A.S. Report website in the show notes.
But it seems like every crisis follows the same pattern under this administration. They are warned about a potential problem or issue months in advance. They ignore those warnings. The problem or issue metastasizes into a major crisis. Yet still, there is no sense of urgency. Finally, the President and his team will come out, blame everyone else for the problem, and attack anyone who dares to question the administration.
It’s pathetic, yet they continue to follow that same pattern as our lives have gotten noticeably more difficult, and we are far worse off today than we were a few years ago.
Many are comparing this administration to the Carter administration, but that’s not the best of comparisons. While we had to suffer under the malaise of the Carter administration, this administration has decided to go the Venezuelan route. We are just beginning to get a glimpse of the socialist paradise the far-left wants to usher in. Sky-high inflation, gas prices, food prices, empty store shelves, a failed foreign policy, the collapse of our border, the collapse of our education system, and surging crime.
In a lot of ways, President Carter was a victim of circumstance. However, the Biden administration has actively implemented policies creating the problems in some cases and making the problems worse in other cases. all those issues I mentioned.
The Great Reset: Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism
Stop Surrendering
In any event, I want to get to parental rights when it comes to your child’s education because it is such an important topic.
Two things are for sure. First, I’ll be interested to see how all the school board races turn out this month. Secondly, and more importantly, America needs a robust public education system that teaches students how to think and become competent and functional individuals within our society.
I often hear people say pull the kids out of public school, and home school them or send them to private school. However, that’s easier said than done and it is not a viable option for most parents and households.
Not for nothing, but why does it seem that we have to constantly surrender to the far-left machine? I mean, just look around. Republicans have surrendered most urban centers they don’t even put up a fight. When we look at the far-left states, people say to move to a red state. Now, if you don’t like the public education system and how children are being indoctrinated, people want to say pull your kids out. Home school or send them to private school, which isn’t much better I might add, especially the elite ones.
But shouldn’t we be tired of surrendering? Isn’t our cities, our states, our education system, and our country worth fighting for? Why should we just give up and walk away? Isn’t surrendering what got us to this point? Maybe we should think about that.
For far too long, most Americans have taken a hands-off approach when it comes to our education system where if you had 5 people show up to a school board meeting that would be a lot. Most people don’t even vote on school budgets. They don’t ask questions or push back at all. They pay their taxes, believed that the schools were operating in good faith, and have ignored a problem that has gotten consistently worse and is now at critical mass. That’s a big reason why it’s gotten so bad.
And listen, I understand it. This isn’t the 1960s or the 1970s anymore. Today’s world is expensive, and both parents are working because it’s not easy to pay the bills, especially in Joe Biden’s economy. Putting food on the table and keeping the electricity on is far more important.
We’ve also witnessed a dramatic shift in the nuclear family where the majority of children being born today are born in single-parent households, making the job of the mother or father that much more difficult.
I get the difficulties of the 21st century, and the burdens people face.
And for all those who say that everyone should just homeschool or send kids to a private school, you can say that all you want, but it will never change the reality that a robust public education system is essential to the survival of a nation.
Let’s just say 20% of parents were able to pull their children out of the public school system and give their children an amazing education. That still leaves 80% of children in the public school system. Guess what? Your child can have the best education in the world, if the country collapses, what good will that amazing education be when everything comes crumbling down?
A Failed System
And there is no doubt it will be crumbling down given that the public education system has become an abject failure.
My semester just ended, and I can clearly state that this was the worst semester I have ever seen when it comes to student performance. I’ve spoken to other professors, and they say the same thing. We’ve clearly seen a major decline in academic performance, and it is crystal clear that looking at the student body, you can see the toll of nearly two years of social isolation and online learning.
You can say that it’s anecdotal, but the reality is that it is far worse than anyone realizes, and the numbers bear that out.
I’ve spoken at length about proficiency levels and The Nation’s Report Card where only 25-30% of graduating seniors are proficient in the subject material. If I focus on specific subjects like American history or government and civics, the numbers are even lower.
While these numbers are alarming, they have remained relatively the same over the last few decades. However, we can expect these numbers to get a lot worse because of all the fanatical decrees and switching to remote learning, in some cases as long as a year and a half.
Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research conducted a study using the MAP results which measures students’ skills in math and reading, and the results are startling. According to the study, students who attended in person throughout the 2020-2021showed a 20% decline in math learning. This number is reflective of students missing the spring of 2020 during the lockdowns and then being masked up during the 2020-2021 school year.
Students that attended remotely from the spring of 2020, and throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year had a decline of 50%.
Any person with two brain cells knew that this was going to be the case, and we will now witness an entire generation behind where they should be. Playing catch-up will be extraordinarily difficult and the problem will last for a decade. Meaning that the standards will invariably drop, and they already have as they continue to cycle students through. They were simply pushed through to the next grade even though they didn’t learn what they were supposed to. It’s a trainwreck.
This is on top of an already crumbling education system. Amazingly enough, those who advocated the most to shut schools down for nearly two years are the same ones who constantly preach about equity and the academic achievement gap. Well, guess what demographics were hit the hardest? Of course, it was the same populations they claim to care about.
Because of the failures of these frauds and the horrible policies, the academic achievement gap has increased dramatically. Again, you didn’t have to be a genius to see this coming. Those with the means were able to get tutors, keep some semblance of structure, and schools in middle to upper-class neighborhoods got back to in-person learning long before those in the poorer urban centers.
And there are reports that tens of thousands of students went missing. Not that they are runaways. They simply never logged into remote learning, and when the schools reopened, they never showed up. I’ve been trying to get a hard number on the drop-out rate, but it’s impossible to find. I wonder why that is?
Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education
What Are Your Parental Rights?
Alright, let’s get to what your parental rights are when it comes to your child’s education. And I want to make it clear that I am talking about K-12 institutions. You have no rights once they get to college because they’re not children anymore. They are young adults.
So, I will be focusing exclusively on K-12, when it comes to parental rights, there are federal pieces of legislation, as well as state legislation. In fact, when Congress created the statutory authority for the Department of Education it explicitly states, “parents have the primary responsibility for the education of their children.”
Classroom Observations
Obviously, I can’t break down each state, but we can look at federal laws that have been codified, and you should look to The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965, and reauthorized as The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that was passed in 2015.
Section 8101 establishes that parents play an integral role in their child’s education, and parents should be encouraged to be actively involved. It states that parents should be involved in decision-making about what their child is learning and that parents should have the ability to sit on any committees.
Section 1116 is even more important because it outlines one of the least known parental rights that has been established for decades, yet so many parents are unaware of this right. It’s the right to observe your child during the school day.
Section 1116 explicitly states that parents should have reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities. This means that you have the right to observe your child within the classroom to see what your child is being taught.
Now before running to your child’s school, you do have to follow the policies of your district so I encourage everyone to contact your district and ask them where you can find their written policies on classroom visits and observations. Now, I prefer to look on the district’s websites because I don’t like giving the school any meaningful notice where they can amend the policy, and usually, you can find it on their website.
You might have to do a little digging, but it can be very useful, and shouldn’t we know the district’s policies anyway? I mean we are sending our children to these schools so it may be a good idea to read the district’s handbook.
Also, don’t think you can just show up at your child’s school, and they’ll just let you sit in the class. For many districts, you may have to make the request in writing. I know it can be frustrating because you’ll say- well, if I have to give advance notice as to when I’m coming, the teacher will know and won’t teach the controversial stuff. I get it, but first, if you do go to observe the class, you’ll get a feel for what the teacher is like. Secondly, if you get other parents involved, you can throw them off balance.
Here’s another piece of advice, if your children are older, in middle or high school, do not, I repeat, do not sit in unless your child wants you to. Understand, these children are at a very difficult age and having a parent sit in can be mortifying for your child. Remember, the goal is to put the schools on notice that you know your rights and you will exercise those rights. The goal is not to get your own child to hate you.
Now if you do request an in-person observation for your child be prepared to get the run around for two reasons. First, most people in the district don’t even know what their policies are, and they don’t know the federal statutes. Secondly, they may give you the run around because they don’t want parental involvement.
My advice to you is to document every conversation you have and to let them know that this is a federal statute. Refer to The Every Student Succeeds Act, and specifically reference Section 1116.
You may also want to make a formal request in writing. In the letter, just get to the point that you want to exercise your right as a parent to observe your child in the classroom. Don’t say it’s because you’re concerned about what they may be learning. Don’t go on and on in the letter. You don’t have to give a reason.
Also, don’t abuse this parental right. You cannot go to school with your child all day, every day. This parental right is only to be used once in a while, and it is not to be abused. And when you do observe your child in the classroom. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t interrupt the teacher. Don’t tell the teacher she’s not teaching the right way.
Don’t tell the teacher how to teach. Take notes if you need to, but do not say a word while in the classroom because they can and will ask you to leave immediately for any disruptions, as they should. If anything concerns you, jot it down, and take it up with school officials afterward.
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FERPA
Another parental right is laid out in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) established in 1974. This Act allows you to inspect all of your child’s educational records at the school and have officials explain them to you. It’s laid out right at the beginning under Section 1.
Again, check with your district to see what its policies are because most of these requests have to be done in writing, and the school is required to grant you access in a reasonable period. They must comply with the request within 45-days. Also, we are seeing a push from these far-left radicals who want to diminish this right by proclaiming that a child has a right to privacy and only certain records can be provided.
When it comes to parental rights, your child doesn’t have a right to privacy. They can’t run their own lives or make their own decisions on a whole host of issues, and parents don’t surrender this authority when children are in school.
These people want to further erode the idea of family in further pursuit of their idea of community. It’s cultural Marxist nonsense. To them, family is not an essential component of society, and they believe that parents exploit children to adhere to a hierarchy. Since they are the moral holy warriors fighting for justice and equity, they are the ones noble enough to raise your children and lead society.
It really is maddening especially when it comes to certain types of decisions, particularly medical decisions where you should have absolute authority and a right to know what’s going on. States like California have tried to circumvent FERPA when it comes to medical decisions when it comes to things like COVID vaccines and gender transitioning.
While states can try and circumvent FERPA, Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution is clear and the Supremacy Clause lays out, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
Something less clear is whether parents have a right to see lesson plans. This is where the lines get blurred. Some say parents don’t have that right, others say it falls under FERPA as it is part of the instructional materials being taught to your child, and others believe that a parent does have a right to these materials if they file a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request.
However, parental rights include the right to review textbooks and worksheets used in the class. I encourage every parent to review worksheets and textbooks, especially textbooks.
The far-left loves to say that if you oppose CRT or DEI programs, you’re a racist, homophobic, transphobic bigot. That you must be a white supremacist. They’ll accuse you of trying to whitewash history. That you don’t want to teach real American history.
Here’s the thing. The far-left has had control of curriculums for the last half-century. 50-years. So, if curriculums aren’t teaching history, it raises two questions. First, what’s being taught then. I’ll agree that history isn’t being taught because I’ve witnessed firsthand how many students lack the basic knowledge of American history, government, and politics.
Second, if the curriculums are based on white supremacy, wouldn’t that make the far-left and those that control academia and curriculums the real white supremacists?
Curriculums are Where the Real Problem Is
But the reality is that those creating the curriculums are where the real problem lies when it comes to education. Listen, I’m lucky enough to teach college, and the learning outcomes are general that it allows me to approach the topic the way I see fit. Also, when teaching in higher education, you have some level of academic freedom allowing you a lot of flexibility.
It’s important to remain objective and allow the students to express their points of view, but at the same time, the teacher has to push the student to think critically. Teach the student how to strengthen their arguments. It also allows us to teach controversial subject material without the fear that a student will be offended and complain.
Now academic freedom should never give license to brainwashing and indoctrination. Unfortunately, some professors do just that.
But at the K-12 levels, teachers have little flexibility when it comes to the course material, and they must work within the confines of what the state tells them to teach. Listen, not all teachers are far-left activists, and I know a lot of them who aren’t ideologues and don’t want to brainwash the kids. They do the best they can, but some curriculums are so specific it makes it nearly impossible, and they have little control or input when it comes to textbook selection.
As parents, you have a right to file FOIA requests from the state education departments when it comes to how they developed the curriculums, who was on the panel, the discussions, and meeting minutes. You also have a right to complain to them as well.
Too many will complain to the teachers, school officials, district officers, and school board members, and it seems that those who have the power are insulated because most parents are simply unaware that these people even exist. Know what your parental rights are.
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With Rights Comes Responsibilities
Now even though we have parental rights, we also have responsibilities. We as parents need to be involved in our children’s lives and their education. We can no longer shirk our responsibilities. No more excuses. You may work long hours and you’re tired. You may be a single parent. You may not understand some of the material, but we all have an obligation to our children, and we cannot be absent parents.
And the fact is that you can learn along with your children. Concepts and ideas that you long forgot because it’s been decades.
Another responsibility is not to complain about every little thing at the school. Understand, teachers and principals have to deal with a lot of students and parents. Don’t complain that your kid got homework over the weekend, or that your child is getting too much work and can’t get it done because your child does ten different activities outside of school. You have to set priorities, and education should be the top priority. Activities, while important, are secondary, and don’t overstretch your child.
Also, you need to recognize the difference between a bad teacher and a teacher trying to brainwash your kids. Indoctrination is unacceptable. Teachers do not exist to force students to think a certain way, especially on political issues. That’s not a teacher’s job. Those are political activists and have no business being in a classroom.
However, when parents complain about bad teachers, it’s subjective. Sometimes those considered “bad teachers” are simply hard teachers that have standards and are constantly pushing their students to be better. My child doesn’t fail tests. Everyone failed, the teacher is too hard. I always loved those excuses. I tried using those excuses myself growing up, but it didn’t matter if everyone. It didn’t matter if the teacher was ineffective. It was my responsibility and the punishments I got remind me of that.
Your child will inevitably encounter a few bad teachers throughout their academic careers, and guess what, so be it. They have to learn to deal with it. It’s part of life experiences. This prepares students for the real world because in the real world you’re not always going to have good bosses, but you have to deal with it. Stop contacting teachers and administrators to get grades changed. That’s a big part of the problem that most of these schools simply cycle students through leaving the student at a disadvantage and unprepared, but teachers and administrators don’t want to deal with parents and so it’s easier to give everyone a passing grade.
We also have an obligation to instill respect and discipline in our children. To make them decent human beings who show respect to everyone and treat everyone with a certain level of dignity, including teachers. We should also stop with the whole “not my child” thing. Kids are kids and they are going to make mistakes and do stupid things. Your children aren’t perfect and stop putting them on a pedestal. Realize that you are not helping them.
Take away the technology from your children. Technology is destroying these children in ways we don’t fully understand. There is no need for kids to constantly be looking at a screen and on social media. You notice that children don’t have a basic sense of direction anymore. That’s because they use their electronics in the car and aren’t paying attention to their surroundings. You notice it’s difficult getting children to remember phone numbers. Think about when we were growing up. We memorized hundreds of phone numbers and were easily able to recall them.
When kids are supposed to be reading, if they read, do you believe they’re retaining anything with all the beeps and vibrations? They are more consumed with what’s going on in the virtual world and doing nothing more than just staring at words on a page.
Do you notice how much more difficult it is for children today to retain information? It’s because they Google everything and don’t have to memorize much. Then you have things like spellcheck, which I will say is great, but the generations have become overly reliant on it that many of them struggle with spelling thinking it will be autocorrected.
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A recent study conducted by Pew Research found that kids spend an average of 9 hours a day online. (Pew Research) And according to a University of Michigan study, this is contributing to our problem in retaining information. (University of Michigan) Moreover, the American Psychological Association found that 16-percent of high schoolers read daily. (American Psychological Association) Reading is knowledge and knowledge is power. The lack of reading has led to a decline in our education system.
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*PA Strategies, LLC. earns a small commission when you make a purchase through any affiliate links on this website and within this post.
Closing
When it comes to what are your parental rights, you need to be informed. More importantly, once we do know, we need to exercise our parental rights and remember that we have responsibilities and obligations. As I said at the beginning, we need a robust public education system, and not everyone has the means to homeschool or put their children in a private school.
A public education system is supposed to link our society together. More importantly, the public education system is supposed to assimilate those who have recently come to the United States. Unfortunately, the failures are widespread and numerous.
Solutions do exist. Some of those solutions can be done at the school level. Some at the legislative level, and some at the societal level. And I can do podcast episodes on each of these. However, this episode was to focus on a few parental rights you may not be aware of, but you need to be. You are the parent, and your child is your child. They are not products of the state. They belong to you, and you alone. Always remember that and don’t let any politician, bureaucrat, administrator, teacher, political activist, or anyone else tell you that you don’t have parental rights and that your children don’t belong to you when they are in the classroom.
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