A mother of four in Florida recently questioned the repeated defense of “parental rights,” known as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” before Florida Governor Ron Descentis signed his controversial “Parental Rights to Education” bill. March.
“Parental rights”? Whose parental rights? Only parental rights if you are raising children according to Dissent? Has been done, which they have been annoyed with in the Republican-led wave considering anti-guardian legislation.
Last year, a culture war took over education. An area that resonates deeply with all of us, education has become a perfect ideological battlefield.
Related: Column: A lesson in hypocrisy – what is behind the ‘Parental Rights’ movement
Yet, when current attacks on education are made as a legitimate debate about principles that affect all parents equally, it creates a narrative that all parents feel the same way and promotes the illusion that the purpose of the attack is to have all voices heard. To confirm Equally in the school system.
As a parent, and as a former teacher and student, in the largest school district in the country, the assumptions of equality pursued deeply annoy me – because that’s just not true.
After talking so much about parental rights, will those who are talking ever stop and ask whose rights are actually in question?
We cannot separate the conversation about parental rights from the impact of ethnic and socio-economic identities on parents’ experiences with the education system.
When lawyers and politicians speak “Parents “usually refer to a very specific group. According to recent Ipsos poll, unlike Republican culture war lawmakers, most parents think schools do a” good job “by keeping them informed about the curriculum; less than a quarter say they rarely do so. Said.
When House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said in his Parents Bill of Rights that “parents” are annoyed by a system run by workers who want to use American classrooms as a breeding ground for promoting their liberal agenda, even though they ignore the real academic needs of our students. He is using the whistle of a right-wing dog to communicate with certain segments that are being stripped of their power.
These messages and the laws that accompany them are not written with black and Latino and indigenous families in mind. If they were, we would see that the new laws help black parents take legal action against schools that do not teach black history properly or rule black children much more and more severely than white children; Or we may see that the laws support indigenous families in claiming that schools genuinely teach about the genocide and the long-term effects of residential schools.
At the moment, it seems that such a law will probably not be written. The US public education system has consistently pursued discriminatory policies. Historically, if anyone has been affected or harmed by disruption and parental engagement, it is children of black and Latino and indigenous communities.
But now Black and Latino and Indigenous parents are fighting to overturn policies that target immigrant children, perpetuating isolation and denying culturally relevant curricula and practices. Our fight needs to be spotlighted and supported.
Black and Latino parents want change; We want a transformation of our school system so that our life experiences are reflected. Polling shows that, despite some academic struggles, black and Latino parents feel more comfortable in distance education (43 percent black and 42 percent Latino families) than white parents (19 percent). Because they think it gives them more control to keep their children safe from petty aggression and health hazards.
Census data show a related trend, with black parents increasingly interested in homeschooling due to the prevalence of whitewashing and culturally irrelevant curricula. From spring to 2020, the proportion of black households choosing homeschooling has increased from 3.3 percent to 16.1 percent.
Black and Latino and indigenous guardians are also becoming politically organized. This is evident in Indiana, where House Bill 1134, which was intended to ban critical racial theories and other “divisive” elements of education, was killed last month for vocal parental opposition, and in Chicago, where school parents kept their children at home and protested against the epidemic. The students walked out.
Related: Column: What rational parents need to do to deal with education conspiracies
Across the country, local alliances such as Red Wine and Blue and Truth in Aid SC are creating a political attack and helping parents organize.
More than 53 percent of all US K-12 public schools have students of color, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics. And the numbers are growing. As our schools become more racial and culturally diverse, it is far from certain that the voices and opinions of marginalized parents will be heard and recognized.
This moment is critical. We are in a power struggle, not just about what we teach and how we teach, but about what kind of parent can ultimately influence these decisions.
Who will shape the future of education in an ethnically and culturally diverse school system that our nation has never seen?
Let’s unite around the millions of voices fighting for a decent hearing, and for people fighting for a democratically fair, just, and high-quality public education for every child, and for families begging to be valued.
Selina A. Carion An experienced NYC classroom teacher, curriculum designer and author. She is also a public school parent, advocating for the humanization of learning equality in education and the transformation of our school.
Produced by this piece about parental rights Hatchinger report, A non-profit, independent news organization focusing on inequality and innovation in education. For registration Hatchinger’s newsletter.
