Senate Education Committee Passes Parent Bill of Rights Act
Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov / public domain / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
While the House deferred the legislation until next week, the Senate Education Committee continued to push a bill forward that would allow parents to have more rights within their local school systems through a number of new requirements.
Senate Bill 2360, sponsored by Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16), would require that local school districts allow parents to have access to certain information, including teachers’ names, titles of books that can be found in school libraries, copies of teachers’ manual, and copies of textbooks.
Additionally, school systems would be required to obtain parental permission for extracurricular activities, including field trips, assemblies, guest speakers, and family life lessons. Parental consent or a court order would also be required for any medical treatment.
Finally, school systems would have to provide parents with the names of any individuals or organizations who receive funding from or contract with the schools, would allow parents to visit their children at school at any time during the school day (even observing classrooms), and would allow parents to see the content of any curriculum, including teachers’ manual.
*** Click Here to Support Conservative Journalism in Tennessee. We can’t cover stories like this without your support! ***
The bill was considered on Wednesday by the Senate Education Committee.Â
Senator Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis-District 29) asked how this bill compared to the rights that parents already have.
“There is no state statute that protects parental rights,” Bowling stated, noting that some are considered fundamental rights, but that this bill would help to solidify those rights.
After only a couple of questions, a roll call vote was taken. The bill passed the Education Committee with a vote of 8-1. All 8 Republican Senators on the committee voted in favor of the bill. Akbari was the only nay vote placed.
The bill will move on to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and is set for their March 23rd calendar and the house version (HB2451) is scheduled to be heard by the House Health Subcommittee on March 22nd.
Contact the Republican members of the Senate Committee and House Subcommittee below if you support passage of this legislation.
Senate Health and Welfare Committee
Rusty Crowe (chair) – sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2468
Ferrell Haile (1st Vice-Chair) – sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1999
Shane Reeves (2nd Vice-Chair) – sen.shane.reeves@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1066
Joey Hensley – sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3100
Ed Jackson – sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1810
Becky Massey – sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1648
Art Swann – sen.art.swann@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-0981
Bo Watson – sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3227
House Health Subcommittee
Bob Ramsey (chair) – rep.bob.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3560
Clark Boyd – rep.clark.boyd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7086
David Byrd – rep.david.byrd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2190
Mark Hall – rep.mark.hall@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1350
Sabi Kumar – rep.sabi.kumar@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2860
Pat Marsh – rep.pat.marsh@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6824
Paul Sherrell – rep.paul.sherrell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1963
Bryan Terry – rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2180
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
It’s a shame this has to be done. But with Communist influence oozing from every crevice in Federal govt there is virtually no choice.