The Parents Bill of Rights: Education in US schools

The House of Representatives passed the Parents Bill of Rights Act (H.R.5) on March 24, 2023. The bill essentially enshrines into law Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”

The bill also explicitly states: “It is the sense of Congress that all public elementary school and secondary school students should have opportunities to learn the history of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.”

Section 104 of the bill describes the Parents Rights to Know. It states that these rights shall include the right to view and review the curriculum of their child’s school and the right to meet in person (or virtually via videoconference) with each teacher and the opportunity to address the school board on issues impacting the education of children.

Section 202 of the bill describes the Protection of Pupil Rights. It states that the following shall be available for inspection by the parents: All instructional materials, including teacher’s manuals, films, tapes or other supplementary material which will be used in school, and any books or other reading materials made available to students.

The full content of the H.R.5 bill may be read at:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5/text

The H.R.5 bill was approved by the House of Representatives in a 213-208 vote. No Democratic representative voted for the bill. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a member of the Democratic party, vowed that the bill will not pass in the Senate. It is regrettable: the present bill, as approved by the House of Representatives, is not perfect, but it could be perfected through dialog and approved also in the Senate, and become a law. It would be a right step towards explicitly enshrining Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in US laws, and, specifically, will help fighting anti-Semitism in public schools.

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I include below a letter I lately sent to many teachers in California schools. I need you to join this effort. If you live in the US, contact the teachers in your local school district, and legislators in your state and in Congress. You can copy/paste/modify the letter and resend it to teachers in your state under your own name. Notice that in California there is a large Latino, Spanish-speaking, population. And here is the letter:

Subject: Contact the NEA: Replace NBI 13

Dear Teacher:

The Spanish edition of the book “Ethnic Studies in K-12 schools: The Jewish module” is now available for free download at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364058058_La_raiz_del_conflicto_arabe-israeli_y_el_camino_hacia_la_paz

The English edition (new March 2023 edition) is also available for free download at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361800823_Ethnic_Studies_in_K12_schools_The_Jewish_module

Teachers are free to print as many copies of the books as they need for their class. To maximize accessibility, the books are also available at Amazon.

Talk to the National Education Association: request to withdraw their NBI 13 and replace it by a new resolution supporting the teaching of both perspectives of the Arab-Israeli conflict. “Teach-Palestine-only” is not education: It is indoctrination. The Jewish perspective must be heard and discussed in class too.

Note: NEA’s New Business Item (NBI) 13 adopted last July 2022 states:

“NEA will support members who educate students and other members about the history, geography, and current state of affairs of the Palestinian people. NEA will provide state affiliates with a clear protocol for members doing this work to utilize when they are under attack.”

What are they afraid of? Be inclusive!

Jaime Kardontchik, PhD (Physics)

Silicon Valley, California

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Note: The NEA is the largest union in the US: It represents about 3,000,000 teachers in elementary and secondary (“K12”) public schools. Their influence in setting the curricula, what is taught in public schools, is immense. Personally, I am not a fan of teaching the Arab-Israeli conflict in K12 schools in the US: K12 public schools already struggle to teach the basic tools and subjects that children need to succeed in life (English, Math, the History of the United States and Civics come to mind). The Arab-Israeli conflict is not one of them. It would be wiser to concentrate on the basics and avoid diverting funds, teacher resources and precious student hours to this subject. However, if the NEA insists, then both perspectives – the Arab and the Jewish perspective – should be included and discussed in class.

Just in California alone there are about 1,000 independent public-school districts, and each one usually uses state or federal funds to contract outside groups to develop the curricula and materials for the newly mandatory “Ethnic Studies” courses. A significant number of these outside groups are pushing the inclusion of the “Teach-Palestine-only” narrative under the disguise of “Arab American Studies”. Presently the process is not transparent, school districts are not forwarding in details and curricula being developed are not published. A Parents Bill of Rights signed into law would provide the needed tool for Jewish parents to defend their rights and their children’s rights against anti-Jewish indoctrination and hatred.