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Florida legislature seeks to expand Parental Rights bill to include 4th, 5th and 6th grades

January 12, 2023 | | Print Article

Florida may soon expand the Parental Rights in Education bill to include fourth-grade, fifth-grade, and sixth-grade students.

As previously reported, the Parental Rights in Education bill prevents teachers from exposing children in third grade or younger to sexual content.

While this is a goal that’s supported by the vast majority of Floridians, according to polling data, the bill has nevertheless been smeared by leftist critics as an attack on the LGBT community because it also prevents teachers from talking to little kids about their sexual orientation.

“Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” the law specifically reads.

Speaking with the Daily Mail, Florida state Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said this week that the state legislature is now considering expanding the bill to also include fourth, fifth, and sixth grade — though no further.

“I don’t think I’d be supportive of [having the rule apply to] high school because kids in high school are, hopefully, a little more mature, or at least they should be,” she said during a press briefing last month.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary told the Daily Mail that the governor may very well be interested in signing such an expansion.

“The governor would certainly consider the merits of such a bill in final form if it comes to his desk as a product of the forthcoming legislation session,” press secretary Bryan Griffin said.

Ever since DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law last March, numerous other GOP-led states have followed his lead.

FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, “has identified 84 bills in 26 states pre-filed or introduced this year alone that seek to expand parents’ rights in schools.”

“So far, six have been enacted, two in Florida, two in Arizona, and one in Georgia and Louisiana. One more bill in Kansas has cleared the legislature and awaits the governor’s signature. Some expand or amend existing ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ while others establish such a bill for the state,” the think tank reported over the summer.

“Several bills focus on providing transparency on curriculum and materials. And some bills seek to regulate school board meetings, such as Maryland HB 618 which states that at “each public meeting, the board shall allow at least 10 minutes for testimony from parents and guardians,” the think tank added.

However, some liberal-led states have gone the opposite route. Take Michigan.

“Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in opposing Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law that prohibits teachers from discussing issues of gender and sexuality with children in kindergarten through third grade,” The Epoch Times confirmed earlier this week.

“One of the most important issues surrounding the education of our kids is making them feel seen, protected, and appreciated. That was not the motivation of this law. The intent and effect of this law is to exacerbate any feelings of otherness that LGBTQ+ students and LGBTQ+ teachers may hold, as well as isolate them from their peers,” her office said in a statement to the Times.

“If the goal of this law had been to limit inappropriate content in classrooms, its language is much too broad and vague to do so in any meaningful way. I proudly stand with my colleagues in opposing this exclusionary law and I will do everything in my power to ensure that similar legislation does not come to Michigan,” the statement continued.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, another blue state official, was also keen to trash the law to the Times.

“Florida’s hate-fueled law is the censorship of LGTBQ+ issues at a time when school communities should be creating an educational environment that is inclusive of everyone. With my colleagues across the country, we are asking the court to put an end to this radical policy and protect LGBTQ+ young people and their families from further harm,” she said.

Critics wonder why Florida’s business is any concern to either Michigan, Massachusetts, or any other liberal state.

They also wonder why leftists are so hellbent on exposing little children to sexual concepts.

Vivek Saxena
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