Kansas Legislature approves parents’ ‘bill of rights’ to challenge classroom content
Kansas parents would have the right to challenge any content in their child’s classroom under a bill approved by the Kansas Legislature early Saturday morning.
The Kansas House voted 67 to 46 and the Senate 23 to 15. Both fell short, however, of a veto proof majority on a set of policies proponents call a “parents bill of rights.”
The measure now heads to Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk, where her decision will be especially consequential as she seeks reelection in November. Kelly, a Democrat, usually avoids staking out positions on legislation but she has signaled she’s likely to veto the bill.
Speaking to reporters last week, Kelly called the parents bill of rights the “teacher demoralization act.”
Republican candidates statewide have based campaigns in the past year on parental anger over COVID-19 restrictions and a wave of conservative criticism over how schools teach children about difficult issues including race and sexual orientation.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the presumptive GOP nominee for Governor, has already focused much of his campaign on the issue.
In a Twitter post last week the Republican Governor’s Association called Kelly’s statement evidence she would side with “the liberal teacher’s unions funding her campaign” rather than parents.
Advocates hailed the policies as important steps to increase parental involvement in their childrens’ education.
“As an educator I don’t see this as an attack I see it as placing clearly out there that in Kansas in our schools in our communities these are rights as well as responsibilities for parents and these are rights as well as responsibilities for our schools,” Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican said.
Opponents said the legislation would harm public schools and stifle classroom discussion of sensitive issues.
Some teachers told The Star that they already willingly provide classroom materials to parents, and many are already available on online learning platforms. And when parents have concerns, they address them.
Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat, said he worried the legislation opened the door to the removal of important context for the uglier parts of U.S. history, like racism and segregation, from classrooms.
“I just hope we don’t reach the point where we allow the involvement or cancel culture where we allow those 1 or 2, or 10 or 15 parents who are inspecting and being informed and able to have removed materials and discussions from within curriculum ... limit the ability of children to really grow into a world citizen,” Haley said.
The final version of the legislation passed without one of the requirements teachers and administrators found most onerous – that each school district establish a “transparency portal” and publish every material in the classroom.
It did establish 12 rights for parents and require all schools to have a process for parents to request information, complain about classroom content and seek its removal.
Dropping the transparency portal piece, Baumgardner said, better fit the reality of classrooms.
“If when we talk about COVID we say one size doesn’t fit all then that line really should be drawn and applied in areas,” Baumgardner said. “This gets to the reality that what happens in the classroom, there is an ebb and flow.”
School districts, including Blue Valley as recently as last week, have followed existing policies to review complaints and issue judgments on whether books challenged by parents are appropriate. The Blue Valley school board voted to keep two LGBTQ-themed books in high school libraries after a review triggered by a parent’s complaint.
Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican, said she would have preferred a more prescriptive policy with a broad transparency portal.
“Maybe in future years,” she said.
The Star’s Lucy Peterson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 1:18 AM.
