Families, communities, and nations are stronger when parents are involved with schooling. However, some schools are not be open and honest with parents. Nicole Russell has an article at The Daily Signal about a case in Wisconsin where a school district was deceiving parents, but a judge issued an injunction.
The Madison Metropolitan School District,
which is Wisconsin’s second-largest school district, was sued by 14 parents to
stop the schools from withholding information from parents. They are supported
by Alliance Defending Freedom and Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
The
lawsuit was filed because the Madison school district instituted a policy that
kept important information from parents.
Russell wrote that the policy “promotes
transgender ideology in the schools” and also “allows teachers to conceal
pertinent information that students share” with them. The “latter part of the
policy” was “specifically about gender dysphoria – or a student’s desire to ‘identify
with’ the opposite sex – even if the child’s parents were unaware or
disapproving.” The teachers cannot share this information with the parents
unless the child signs a consent form.
The judge was right to issue an injunction
because the policy was unusually devious from the start. It was in no way ad
hock, accidental, or innocent: If a child approached a teacher about wanting to
quietly transition to the other gender, the teacher was required to fill out a “Gender
Support Plan.”
Under the federal Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act, parents can see all school records about their
children, but the law excludes teachers’ personal notes from parental review.
Thus, the school district instructed teachers to put any information about
gender identity there, so parents would not be able to see the notes, even
under federal law.
The district’s policy specifies: “School
staff shall not disclose any information that may reveal a student’s gender
identity to others, including parents or guardians and other school staff
unless legally required to do so.”
Russell admitted that “Most school
are open and transparent” and most teachers are anxious to “brag on a child’s
success or tattle on poor behavior.” This was not the case with the Wisconsin
school district, and the judge was right to put a stop to it. Parents should be
involved with their children’s education, and they need open and honest
communication from the school about anything that affects their children. When
parents and schools work together for the good of the children, families,
communities, and nations are strengthened.
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