Should local teachers keep students' gender transitions from their parents?
Bay-Area school districts are bracing for a showdown over whether teachers should keep kids’ gender transitions hush-hush. A 2023 Real Impact chat spotlights Chino Valley’s “tell-the-parents” plan, and education-policy expert Lance Christensen chimes in that it’s a simple way to restore parental rights and some much-needed trust in public schools.
“If a child is socially transitioning at school: changing their name, pronouns, clothing; everyone at school knows except for the parents. That destroys trust. And without trust, there’s no functioning education system, just indoctrination.”
“Once you destroy trust between schools and families, parents will find a way out. California public schools have already lost 310,000 students in three years.”
“The proposed Chino Valley policy is straightforward: if your child is being bullied, has suicidal ideation, or begins a gender transition, the school must inform you. It doesn’t prevent anything. It just ensures that the parents know.”
“California law is actually very clear. Education Code Section 51101 outlines parents’ rights to know about their children’s education and well-being. This isn’t radical; it’s already legal.”
“Schools are creating unofficial records to avoid informing parents. This isn’t just troubling. It teaches children to hide things and legitimizes what we call ‘noble lies.’”
“We built a toolkit on caparentalrights.com. It’s got the sample policy, legal analysis, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions for getting it onto your school board’s agenda—even if you don’t have an ally on the board yet.”
“Polling shows this is a bipartisan issue: 82% of California parents, including a majority of Democrats, say parental rights don’t end when a child enters school. This is about restoring partnership, not launching culture wars.”
Watch the whole video here.
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