House passes bill to expand parental oversight in schools, restrict funds over hidden ‘gender transitions’

The House passed legislation May 20 that would strengthen parental oversight in public elementary and middle schools and require parental consent before schools change a student’s gender designation, pronouns, or sex-based accommodations.

H.R. 2616, the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act, passed 217-198, largely along party lines, advancing to the Senate, where it was referred May 21 to the chamber’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The bill is sponsored by Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who chairs the House’s Education and Workforce Committee, and Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah.

In a committee press release, Walberg and Owens argued that the bill comes at a crucial time, as some schools push political and ideological agendas on students without parental knowledge or approval.

“Simply put, parents should never be the last to know — that’s not political, it’s common sense,” Walberg said, adding that it’s “time to restore transparency and put parents back in the driver’s seat.”

Owens said parents have the ultimate right to make decisions about raising their children and emphasized that conversations about gender belong under parental authority. 

“Sex is a biological fact, not an ideological whim. Yet across the country, school districts are actively pushing radical gender ideology on children and, in some cases, facilitating social transitions without parental knowledge or consent,” Owens said. “The Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act is simple: any district that promotes these ideologies in the classroom or conceals a child's gender transition from his or her parents will lose federal funding.”

>> North Carolina parents accuse school district of pushing ‘gender ideology’ despite state law <<