Controversial ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ is moving quickly through the NC legislature
Senate Republicans advanced the controversial Parents’ Bill of Rights Wednesday after lengthy and heated opposition from some legislators, parents and students who say the law would be harmful to LGBTQ students and a burden on school districts and educators.
Senate Bill 49 is similar to a House bill from the 2021-22 legislative session that received widespread criticism for potentially scaring LGBTQ students from discussing their gender or sexual identities. It would have banned certain curriculum for grades K-3. This year’s version of the bill extends to the fourth grade.
Lawmakers debated the bill’s merits in a Senate Education Committee meeting Wednesday before voting to move it forward in the legislative process. Democratic legislators resisted the bill, citing potential harm to marginalized students and arguing the bill would add stress to an understaffed school system. A report released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Instruction shows educator vacancies have risen in North Carolina’s public schools by more than 50%.
Republican Sen. Michael Lee, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, told The News & Observer that such issues are outside of the domains of the bill, which solely addresses parental rights and access to information on student materials and curriculum within schools.
“I think they were referring to kind of our budget process and overarching educational opportunities in North Carolina,” Lee said of his Democratic peers. “And how we’re funding those really doesn’t have anything to do with this particular bill. But I think they were outlining it because they wanted to make sure those things were addressed as we kind of move through that process.”
Democratic Sen. Michael Garrett, addressing the education committee, highlighted Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s commitment to veto the previous version of the Parents’ Bill of Rights because of the harm it could have imposed on students.
“I don’t think anyone in this room is here saying that parental involvement in education is a bad thing or is wrong,” Garrett said. “We have for decades been trying to get parents more involved in their children’s education. But that’s not what this bill is about. We all know that.”
In an earlier press conference, Sen. Amy Galey, an Alamance County Republican, said the bill is solely to give parents a deeper understanding of the curriculum and materials their children are learning through school. Galey is another of the bill’s primary sponsors.
“It baffles me to think that this bill could be divisive,” she said. “Quite frankly I cannot understand why it would be controversial to say that children five, six, seven, eight, nine years old should not be taught about sexuality, sexual activity in public school classrooms — that blows my mind.”
What’s in the bill?
The new Parents’ Bill of Rights would require “age-appropriate instruction” for K-4 students if passed into law, and require schools to make learning materials available for parents to view. Galey said the wording about “age-appropriate instruction” was not extended to fifth grade because health classes may discuss topics about sexuality.
It would also allow parents to withhold consent for participation in surveys discussing topics such as political beliefs and sexual behavior; seek a medical or religious exemption from immunizations; and see what books their child has borrowed from the school’s library. SB 49 would also require schools to notify parents under most circumstances if their children change the pronouns by which the school refers to them.
“Relationships between students and teachers are not confidential and they should not be,” Galey said. “Teachers are not trained for counseling. They’re teachers, not counselors.”
Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said there is no explicit education on gender and sexuality curriculum for grades K-4. Students begin learning about sexuality in fifth grade, where they are exposed to an abstinence-only education.
“A lot of what we are hearing is anecdotal, and things that are not happening in North Carolina schools,” Walker Kelly told The N&O.
In the Senate Education Committee’s public comments section, several educators, students and community members voiced opposition to SB 49. Many said the legislation would put students at risk who want to safely identity as LGBTQ in school but who can’t do so at home. Or, they said, the bill might make it difficult to have conversations around gender and sexual orientation, even if inquiries are student-led.
Last year’s iteration of the Parents’ Bill of Rights sparked similar controversy among LGBTQ activists and many North Carolina Democrats, including Cooper.
He and Senate Democrats compared the bill to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Opponents feared the bill would stifle conversation on gender and sexual identity in schools.
SB 49 is next scheduled for discussion in the Senate Health Care Committee, which will convene Thursday.
This story was originally published February 1, 2023 at 11:12 AM.
