Outside Groups Bolstered GOP’s Successful Defense of Parents’ Rights in Schools

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) worked with roughly 20 outside groups in the leadup to Republicans narrowly passing the Parents Bill of Rights Act on Friday.

Emmer, who is tasked with securing support for legislation coming up for a full House vote, met with not just his colleagues but numerous trade associations and conservative groups to build support for the bill, which passed 213 to 208 with no Democrats voting in favor of it.

“It’s a shame that parents’ rights in the classroom even have to be defended, but House Republicans are making sure those rights are secured with the Parents Bill of Rights Act,” Emmer said in a statement to Breitbart News.

He added, “Any Democrat who can vote against more transparency for parents in the classroom is a Democrat going to bat for the teachers unions that believe your children belong to them.”

The groups included the American Principles Project, Family Research Council, Heritage Action for America, Parents Defending Education, various religious groups, and others.

The legislation is critical to Republicans’ education agenda and centered around five key tenets:

• Parents have the right to know what their children are being taught.
• Parents have the right to be heard.
• Parents have the right to see the school budget and spending.
• Parents have the right to protect their child’s privacy.
• Parents have the right to keep their children safe.

While the whipping work was a weeks-long effort, the momentum for parents bills of rights traces back to 2021.

During that year, a confluence of issues, including school administrators implementing draconian coronavirus policies, infusing critical race theory into curricula, and forcing transgender ideology on young students, spurred heated school board meetings nationwide and ultimately contributed to now-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) winning an underdog gubernatorial campaign in Virginia.

The new bill would, for instance, require parents to be made aware of a child seeking to use a pronoun or bathroom that did not align with their sex.

Despite the House bill garnering support from almost every Republican from every faction of the GOP, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) condemned the bill as a “MAGA House Republican school control bill” and vowed that the Senate would not take it up for consideration.

The five Republicans who voted against it were Reps. Matt Rosendale (MT), Matt Gaetz (FL), Andy Biggs (AZ), Mike Lawler (NY), and Ken Buck (CO).

Emmer during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Saturday said of the legislation, “House Republicans are actually governing, and we’re governing and the Democrats are turning their backs on parents and students.”

Listen:

“The parental bill of rights is really about giving parents the ability to parent,” Emmer added. “We’ve got these schools that literally take the attitude that parents don’t belong in the classroom, [that] they have no way, no business directing the education of their children, which it’s just the opposite.”