STATEMENT: PDE Action Supports PROTECT Kids Act

Parents and teachers should be partners in a child’s education, but it is increasingly the case that parents are intentionally left out of key decisions about their child’s life at school. Our partner organization, Parents Defending Education, has tracked over 1,200 school districts with “parental exclusion policies,” which state that parents need not be informed if their child decides to go by a different name or pronouns or is allowed to use the bathroom or locker room of the opposite sex at school.

Parents overwhelmingly disapprove of these policies. Polling conducted by Parents Defending Education found that 80% of parents oppose allowing their child to change their gender at school without parental notification. Further, 75% of parents support legislation requiring schools to notify them if their child wants to transition.

Chairman Tim Walberg’s Parental Rights Over The Education and Care of Their Kids Act, or the PROTECT Kids Act, does exactly that. If passed, the PROTECT Kids Act would require that any school receiving federal funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 obtain parental consent before changing a child’s gender markers or name or allowing them to use facilities designated for the opposite sex. PDE Action is proud to support Chairman Walberg’s legislation, which restores parental involvement in the most fundamental issues surrounding a child’s physical and intellectual development.

You can read the full bill text here.

“Parents Defending Education has tracked over 1,200 school districts with ‘parental exclusion policies,’ which state that parents need not be informed if their child decides to go by a different name or pronouns or is allowed to use the bathroom or locker room of the opposite sex at school. Polling conducted by PDE found that 80% of parents disapprove of these policies, and 75% support legislation requiring schools to notify them if their child wants to transition.

Chairman Tim Walberg’s PROTECT Kids Act addresses parents’ concerns head on by requiring schools to obtain parental consent before changing a child’s gender markers or allowing them to use facilities designated for the opposite sex. PDE Action is proud to stand with Chairman Tim Walberg in his efforts to recenter parents’ involvement in education, and we wholeheartedly endorse his bill.” – PDE Action