A new survey found that nearly three out of every four Americans believe that parents should be able to opt their kids out of public school subjects they believe are immoral or objectionable.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty surveyed 1,000 American adults between September 28 and October 5 as part of its annual Religious Freedom Index, and the results suggest that transgender advocacy in schools is a losing proposition for Democrat politicians — at least if voters are paying attention.
In a consensus that is rare for any political issue, a whopping 74% of respondents agreed that “parents should be able to opt their children out of public school curriculum on gender and sexuality that violates their religious beliefs or that they believe is not age appropriate.”
That’s four percent higher than when the question was posed in 2021, at the height of the education culture war, suggesting that the Left has lost ground as more Americans have seen examples of public schools concealing radical ideas under the banner of social-emotional learning, sex-ed, and the like.
Only a third of respondents agreed with a position mirroring that backed by teachers unions and many Democrats, that “public schools are responsible for shaping the next generation of citizens and should have final say on what children are taught in school.”
The percentage who strongly (rather than somewhat) agree with the parental rights position has also solidified, jumping nine points from 2021.
Eighty percent disagreed that schools should “be allowed to hide information from parents about their child’s decision to adopt a new name, new pronouns, or begin a gender transition,” and 76% disagreed that “schools should be allowed to encourage children to transition their genders.”
The survey results were shared first with The Daily Wire. Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said that “Americans are making clear that no one can replace parents when it comes to raising children. That’s a heartening sign for the direction of our nation and for every parent who wishes to pass on values and virtues to their children.”
“Our nation is better when we allow parents to parent their children, not the government,” Windham said.
The findings come as school districts across the country act to the contrary.
In Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, the school board prohibited parents from removing their children from lessons on sexuality, specifically arguing that it was because so many parents wanted to do so that it would cause a disruption. District materials tell teachers that if a parent asks, “Can I keep my child home when students are learning about LGBTQ+ topics?,” they should discuss “equity” and then say, “Parents always have the choice to keep their student(s) home while using these texts; however, it will not be an excused absence.” (The same district recently gave excused absences for students who wanted to protest Israel on the anniversary of Kristallnacht.)
The state of California, meanwhile, paid a nonprofit that encourages kids to identify as genders such as “foxgender,” and teaches schools how to hide it. That includes a six-page for on which pronouns to use around kids and whether school staff needs to hide their use of those pronouns from their parents. “It’s not always the case that caregivers are supportive of their child’s gender, their gender journey, in that case, if parents are not supportive or if the child is not out, that’s not necessarily someone who will be part of the gender support team,” said Director of Training Carla Pena at the group’s annual Gender Spectrum Family Conference last year.
And in Virginia, a mother sued her school district after it relentlessly asked her child about transitioning. The child did transition, the district concealed it from the mother, and she was then trafficked to Baltimore and held by a registered sex offender. A school counselor then allegedly testified in Baltimore court that the girl should remain in Baltimore — in a group home with at-risk boys — instead of being returned to her mother, speculating that the mother might be transphobic.
The survey results explain why issue of parental rights has become a flashpoint in the ongoing presidential election. Republican candidates this year have fashioned themselves as fierce defenders of parental rights in the classroom, with top contenders Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley all promising to give parents more power if they win the presidency.