Enhanced parental notifications and protections against coercion in the classroom would improve Pennsylvania schools.
(HARRISBURG, PA) Today, the PA Senate Education Committee passed the Empowering Families in Education Act (SB 1278), a bill that would help our kids and respect parental rights by preventing coercion and advocacy in the classroom on issues involving sexual orientation and gender identity. The committee also passed SB 1277, a bill that would require parental notification regarding sexually explicit materials in schools.
“We are thrilled to see action being taken to protect children from coercion and to empower parents to decide when and how their children learn about issues involving human sexuality and gender,” says Alexis Sneller, Communications and Policy Officer at Pennsylvania Family Institute. “Our children should not be exposed to the kinds of graphic sexual content that would be understood to be inappropriate in a work context. We can do better for our children.”
We thank Senator Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) and Senator Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster) for their leadership in helping to advance the Empowering Families in Education Act. The primary goals of this bill are to prevent coercion, improve transparency, and ensure parents have the opportunity to participate in making decisions about their own child’s education.
We also thank Sen. Aument for his leadership on SB 1277. Our children have been exposed to extremely graphic materials in recent years. This bill seeks to bring the kind of transparency that will help parents and kids to better navigate this environment.
Both bills now now go to the full PA Senate for consideration.
