Parents Bill of Rights Act

What it does

This bill establishes various rights of parents and guardians regarding the public elementary or secondary school education (including secondary career and technical education) of their children. Local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools must comply with the requirements of the bill in order to receive federal education funds.

Specifically, the bill requires schools to notify parents and guardians of their rights regarding the education of their children. These rights include the right to

• review (and make copies of at no cost) the curriculum of their child's school;

• know if the state alters its challenging academic standards;

• meet with each teacher of their child at least twice each school year;

• review the budget, including all revenues and expenditures, of their child's school;

• inspect the books and other reading materials in the library of their child's school;

• address the school board of the LEA;

• receive information about violent activity in their child's school; and

• know if their child is not grade-level proficient in reading or language arts at the end of 3rd grade.

Additional rights include the right to

• receive information about any plans to eliminate gifted and talented programs or college credit programs in their child's school;

• know the total number of school counselors in their child's school;

• know if their child's school operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities that permit an individual whose biological sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designed for individuals whose biological sex is female;

• know if their child's school allows an individual whose biological sex is male to use restrooms or changing rooms designated for individuals whose biological sex is female; and

• receive timely information about any major cyberattack against their child's school.

Each LEA must (1) post on a publicly accessible website (or otherwise widely disseminate to the public) the curriculum for each grade level, and (2) include detailed budget information in its annual report card.

The bill provides for additional family educational and privacy rights, including by (1) prohibiting schools from acting as an agent of a parent for purposes of providing verifiable parental consent for a vaccination, (2) prohibiting schools from selling student information for commercial or financial gain, and (3) requiring schools to engage meaningfully with parents in developing privacy policies or procedures.

An elementary school or a school consisting of only grades 5-8 must obtain parental consent before (1) changing a minor child's gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on school forms; or (2) allowing a child to change the child's sex-based accommodations.

The bill requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and analyze the impact of the bill on protecting parents' rights in the education of their children and the costs to educational agencies and schools.

Summary by the Congressional Research Service, Mar 24, 2023 (Passed House). CRS summarizes bills impartially; it does not take positions.