By Carolyn Martin (CHEC Director of Government Relations)
Nearing the End
As I am writing this post over the weekend, there have been 467 House bills and 226 Senate bills introduced thus far in the session. Many of the bills are still waiting to make it through the entire process. Some were just introduced last week and will begin the committee process this week. Last session, the legislature introduced 5 significant bills during the last week, so they may still have some more tricks up their sleeves.
Education
Out of the 693 bills, 87 of them have something to do with K–12 education and another 20 have to do with higher education. For those of you who use the public education system, some of the topics of those bills should be of concern to you. The state is pushing its worldview down to local school districts when it comes to dealing with the following issues: non-legal name changes, best practices to prevent discrimination, weight-based bullying prevention, oral health screenings, trauma-informed school safety drills, and the expansion of school-based health care.
For those who don’t use public school programs, there are still things happening within the government school system that is of concern. A bill to gather longitudinal data from K–12 and higher education public schools to evaluate education outcomes will probably pass. At some point, they will start asking for data on our children because the ultimate goal is to track everyone. Another bill proposes to allow school districts to put a “seal of climate literacy” on a graduating student’s diploma. In the last few years, two other seals or endorsements have been implemented: bilingual and STEM. Time will tell if these special endorsements will have a negative impact on homeschool students competing for college admissions.
There were two bills that directly involved the homeschool law. Both addressed government funding. One we opposed, because of the potential impacts on all homeschoolers, and it was stopped in committee. The other bill updates the school finance formula and although it alters the homeschool law, it does not change the substance of it. During the waning hours of this session, we continue to watch for any changes that could impact homeschoolers in all the bills that remain on the calendar.
Parental Rights
As I mentioned in my blog post two weeks ago, there is a push to give to children rights over the rights of parents to direct their upbringing, care, and education. We saw several bills along these lines directly impacting parents whose children are involved with the child welfare system. We pushed back against a mental health program that is heavily advertised through social media to all children and intentionally leaves parents out.
The state continues to take on more of the parent’s responsibility to care for children. Due to bills passed this year, you will see changes in the requirements for minor drivers’ education and car seat safety. A bill to give warning messages to youth who use social media apps is waiting for the governor’s signature. At some point the viewpoint that the state knows what is best for your children will enter into the homeschool sphere. The only way to overcome it is to continue to educate the populous about inalienable and fundamental rights, including parental rights and true freedom of conscience.
Trusting in the mighty power and grace of Jesus,
Carolyn Martin
CHEC Director of Government Relations
Carolyn@CHEC.org
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