Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., on Tuesday pushed a bill to “combat indoctrination in schools” by cutting off federal funds from public elementary and middle schools whose staff addresses a student by a different pronoun or name without parental consent.
The South Carolina senator introduced the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their Kids (PROTECT) Act, to ensure parental rights over their child’s education by “preventing schools from concealing information about students’ gender from their parents.”
The PROTECT Kids Act, received the backing from conservative groups like Parents Defending Education Action and Independent Women’s Voice.
The PROTECT Kids Act would withhold federal funding from any elementary or middle school that allows students to change their “pronouns, gender markers, or sex-based accommodations (including locker rooms and bathrooms) without the consent of their parents.”
GOV. YOUNGKIN INTRODUCES NEW MODEL POLICY FOR VIRGINIA TRANSGENDER STUDENTS
“Parents across the country have grown rightfully concerned by school policies that push a radical agenda that’s kept secret from parents,” Scott told Fox News Digital. “It shouldn’t be controversial to say that parents should have the biggest voices in their kids’ education, yet powerful unions and bureaucrats continue to keep parents in the dark about curriculum and administrative policies. It’s unacceptable. My common sense bill sends a clear message that parental rights must be a top priority for student safety and success.”
Education has been a top issue ahead of the midterm elections after President Biden’s proposed changes for Title IX, which included gender identity as part of the definition of sex, raised controversy.
The Biden administration said it will release additional regulations on transgender students’ participation in sports, a move that is likely to meet pushback from Republicans.
Furthermore, Scott’s introduction of the parental rights bill comes after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin updated “model policies” regarding the treatment of transgender students, claiming that the previous “guidelines disregarded the rights of parents.”
Virginia’s Dept. of Education listed first under the “Guiding Principles” section that “parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children” and that the “policies shall be drafted to safeguard parents’ rights with respect to their child, and to facilitate the exercise of those rights.”
The policies go on to cite the 14th Amendment, which gives parents a “fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”
Parents all over the country have been speaking out against coronavirus-related mandates in schools and progressive curriculums that have been associated with critical race theory or gender theory.
