We Don't Need No Education, Con't

Kentucky Republicans are jumping on the assault on public education pain train in a big way as the General Assembly returns this week, with new legislation that would allow individual parents of schoolkids to sue school districts if they object to any part of their child's curriculum and the district doesn't change it.

 

HB 173 states parents should have the right to make decisions for their child “without obstruction or interference from a public school.” As long as the student meets the compulsory attendance rules under state law, that student should be educated how the parent sees fit, the measure asserts.

Guardians should have the “high duty and right to nurture and direct their children's destiny, including their upbringing and education; mental, emotional, and physical health care; and moral and religious development,” the bill continues.

HB 173 outlines a system for local school boards to receive complaints about violations of parents’ rights. If districts don’t respond according to the process, the parent can sue.

Parents would also be able to review any student well-being surveys, curriculum, books or course syllabi. They would also have the right to consent on their child’s behalf to participate in a number of things, including surveys and regular classroom interactions where a journalist may be present.

Almost every non-emergency health procedure, including mental health sessions with school counselors, would need a parent’s blessing.

Under HB 173, school staff would be required to inform parents if their child starts dressing in a way that doesn’t correspond with their gender or asks to use different pronouns or a name other than their assigned name ― a move that goes against state education guidance on how to best work with transgender students.

Districts would be required to prohibit trainings where teachers would be encouraged to use a student’s chosen name or pronouns, or touch on “critical race theory” topics such as white supremacy.

Schools would also no longer be allowed to require masks or any type of vaccination.

HB 173 also includes language to a previously filed “bathroom ban,” barring trans students from using the restrooms aligned with their gender identity.

Under the measure, which is 27-pages-long, parents would also have the right to have their child spend their day learning the assigned curriculum with “no time spent being indoctrinated into any partisan political position.”

It bars any discussion of gender expression inconsistent with biological sex, sexual orientation or sexual expression, including in classes and from teachers’ and speakers’ personal experiences. Teachers also could not display LGBTQ pride flags.

The bill clarifies teachers can talk about their legal spouse but should not discuss their sex lives with students.

 

I remind you that this bill was introduced, along with a state Constitutional referendum allowing charter schools to get state education money at the direct expense of public schools, at a meeting of the Kentucky House Education Committee which was discussing the state's existing critical teacher shortage. 

The bill doesn't exist to "put the power in the hands of parents, it's there to end public education by making it so litigious to operate a public school district that they can't actually educate kids, instead all your education tax dollars going to constant legal battles and defending parental lawsuits.

Florida's gutting of public education is only the beginning. Kentucky Republicans may actually dismantle the system entirely and surpass even Ron DeSantis.