New Jersey Parents: the Law Is on Your Side Regarding School Parental Notification Policies. You Have the Legal Power to Protect Your Rights.

As we head into a new school year, New Jersey parents need some clarity as to their constitutional rights to direct the education of their children. Under Gov. Murphy, Attorney General Matt Platkin sued four New Jersey school districts over their parental notification policies regarding gender transitions at school, and progressive zealots like Mendacious Michael “Hundreds of Millions” Gottesman and his (formerly NJEA-funded) NJPEC have tried to sow confusion about what the law says. Thankfully, a Wall Street Journal op-ed entitled “Parents, Know Your Rights as School Begins,” written by Ian Prior of America First Legal (AFL), explains recent Supreme Court rulings, as well as federal laws, provide unequivocal confirmation of parents’ constitutional rights, which trump any and all state laws or district policies. Parents also have many tools available to ensure their rights are vindicated. Take heart, parents! Know that the law is on your side.

Prior: Recent Supreme Court rulings “significantly strengthened” parental rights. In the op-ed, Prior speaks to parents worried about whether they would be notified if their child changed genders at school or whether their daughter would be forced to share a locker room with biological males. He makes clear that recent Supreme Court rulings have “significantly strengthened” parental rights, clarifying that “American schools exist to educate children, not replace parents,” and that parents have “the primary responsibility for directing their children’s upbringing.” Here are the highlights (we encourage you to read his entire op-ed or go to AFL’s website for more information):

• Supreme Court: Parents have the right to opt your child out. In the Mahmoud decision, the Supreme Court held that parents’ have First Amendment rights to notice and an opportunity to opt out of sex-related policies that parents find objectionable. America First Legal has made available an opt-out template letter for parents to use to opt their child out. The Supreme Court has ruled: this is the supreme law of the land.
• Supreme Court: Parents have the right to parental notification. In the Mirabelli ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the stay of a California law that restricted parental notification if their child changed genders at school while the appeals court decides on the merits. But the Supreme Court made clear that the plaintiffs (parents) were likely to succeed at trial and used strong language to underscore that parents have both 1st and 14th Amendment rights to direct their children’s upbringing and education. While a final decision has not been made, it is almost certain that any state law or district policy that impinges on this right would be unconstitutional.
• Pro-parent federal law: FERPA. FERPA is a federal law that gives parents the right to their children’s school records. Apparently, many school districts are evading FERPA by keeping gender identity records in a separate system. Prior advises that parents should clearly state that their request to see all their child’s educational records is being made under FERPA. If a school denies any part of the request, parents should file a formal complaint with the US Department of Education. Schools that fail to comply with FERPA can lose their federal funding, and Sunlight would guess that when confronted with the reality of a request under FERPA, the schools will comply.
• Pro-parent federal law: PPRA. In addition, under the PPRA federal law, parents have the right to inspect instructional materials used in their child’s education. America First Legal has a PPRA toolkit with a sample letter to ensure that parental rights under PPRA are protected.
• Pro-parent federal law: Title IX. Finally, there is Title IX, which protects “sex-segregated spaces.” This year, the Supreme Court effectively held that the term “sex” as used in Title IX refers to biological sex. As a result, schools cannot credibly claim that Title IX permits students to access the bathrooms or locker rooms for the opposite sex. If parents are confronted with a school that permits this, they can file a Title IX complaint with the USDOE or sue the school district.

Repercussions of the Supreme Court rulings in New Jersey. We would also mention New Jersey Globe reported that Moms for Liberty just sued the Chatham school district over a policy that allows school employees to withhold information about a student’s gender identity from their parents. The school district refused to rescind or revise the policy even after being notified of recent Supreme Court decisions (Mirabelli and Mahmoud). The board president apparently claimed that the Supreme Court rulings are not binding on New Jersey public school districts. As the complaint said of that preposterous claim: “That is not a legal argument; it is defiance of the law of the land.” Unless they want to defend against similar lawsuits, New Jersey school boards should take notice, and we expect they will.

We would add that Gov. Murphy’s lawsuits against four New Jersey school districts (Middletown, Marlboro, Manalapan, and Hanover) over their policies requiring parental notification of their child’s gender transition will surely fail. We cannot see how the state would be permitted to block school districts from supporting parents’ constitutional rights, and we believe that any similar attempts to prevent school districts from adopting parental notification policies would similarly fail.

So, parents take heart! All the state’s intimidation under Murphy and all Gottesman’s harassment of school boards are on the wrong side of the law. Any school board that passes a policy that infringes on parents’ constitutional rights will surely be forced to retract that policy because parents have the legal power to insist that schools respect their constitutional rights. That’s the law of the land.