March 28, 2022
Dear Governor DeSantis,
Independent Women’s Voice is the leading national women’s organization dedicated to expanding support for common sense public policies among women, independents, millennials, and Gen Z. On behalf of IWV, we thank you for putting students first and ensuring that parents are the educational decision-makers when it comes to their children. By signing Florida’s Parental Rights in Education (H.B. 1557) into law, you have created a model for the nation.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed glaring flaws in our public education system. During virtual learning, many parents discovered that professional educators were imposing their own ideological agenda, including components of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and radical gender ideology, on children as young as kindergarten. Not only is this a violation of public trust, it can have harmful effects on children.
It has also become apparent that many teachers are not only encouraging young children to discuss age inappropriate sexual topics, some are actively transitioning children and keeping information about it from parents. This activism has no place in public schools.
The Florida Parental Rights in Education law reminds school systems and activist teachers that parents, not state employees, are ultimately responsible for their children. It ensures that parents have access to their children’s health and education records, prohibits schools from withholding information from parents and supports “the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children.” And it also protects young children from being taught to focus on sexual and gender identities.
It should go without saying that parents have a right to know what their kids are being taught and exposed to—and a right to information about their childrens’ health records, as well as updates on changes in their child’s mental, emotional and physical health.
As parents, we know what is best for our children. Thank you for signing H.B. 1557 and protecting parental rights in education in your state.
Respectfully,
Hadley Heath Manning
Director of Policy
Independent Women’s Voice