Thread by @APDillon_

Press conference on Parental Bill of Rights about to start. #ncga #nced
Listen here:
ncleg.gov/Audio/press
Tweets to follow

https://twitter.com/APDillon_/status/1529132095624433664

Berger: Prior to the pandemic we took for granted the rights we thought parents had related to their child's education
-The bill is about increasing transparency and trust

Ballard will run the bill tomorrow.
Ballard says parent input is critical, heart of the bill is parental involvement.

Transparency on what their child is being taught; access to materials. Schools should adopt policies to reflect that.
Notification of health decisions; if their child is struggling in any way the parents should be notified

Age-appropriate instruction; the bill bars teaching gender identity/sexuality in K-3. This area is similar to that of the one signed by FL Gov. DeSantis which the media gave the false moniker of 'don't say gay'.

Questions now about what curriculum has to be listed or 'how granular' that list will be.
Ballard says parents who ask for info should get whatever level of material they ask for.
She also notes parents have been denied access.
(This is accurate- it happened to me as a parent.)

Question about health & social emotional disclosure to parents. Ballard says parents should be told if there is anything going on with their children.

WRAL asks what about kids who are not ready to tell their parents about their gender identity or sexuality;
Bergers: Parents have a right to know.

Reporter Q comparing FL bill to this bill and 'squelching talk about LGBTQ issues."
Berger: Our bill is different and there is no 'squelching'; some items are not appropriate for K-3

Berger: If a parent asks for info and the info is not forthcoming, the parent can go thru appeal process with school/district and are still denied, they can then go through the courts for injunctive relief

In other words, the bill gives parents some teeth when a district hides info or stonewalls parent requests.

Question: Is this like the critical race theory bill.
Berger: that was a separate bill, so no

Question about limiting COVID vax for kids should it become mandatory.
Ballard: Parents have to have to give consent if their kids are minors.

Berger: We intend to pass it in the Senate, hope the House will too and that Cooper will sign it.

Question: Have any Dems seen this bill yet?
Berger: No, just those who are sponsoring the bill. That's not unusual for any bill.

Ballard: Why would anyone be opposed to parents knowing what is going on with their kid in their classroom?

Reporter repeats Q about Dems seeing it or not.
Berger basically says that's not typical process; there will be debate and amendments when the bill is heard tomorrow just like any other bill.

Reporter tries to sneak in a medicaid expansion question & gets smacked down

Reporter Q: Why this bill now? 14 kids are dead in Texas so why the timing of this bill now?

Berger: This is not Texas and I don't know why someone would try to connect the two.

Berger says parents have talked to their legislators and are concerned by what is happening in their schools. This legislation is to address that, nothing more, nothing less.

Presser ended - Key takeaways:
Increase transparency for parents in the areas of materials/curriculum; health/wellness related to a child.
No sexuality/gender identity lessons in K-3.
Start the countdown for NC media to slap the 'don't say gay' false moniker on that part.

Ok, I got my hands on a copy of the bill & the summary documentation.
From the summary - page one

Summary/analysis page 2 and part of page 3

Parents legal rights:

Parents guide to student achievement section

Parental involvement; note the time limits on responses to requests made by parents to districts.

Parental notification of student mental/physical health

Mental/physical health continued; this has escalation processes in it if a parent is getting the run-around.

More on the consent related to healthcare of minors

And from the bill itself, this is the section barring teaching sexuality & gender identity to kids in K-3; expect the media to try to label this as they did in FL w/ 'don't say gay'.
This is also the section giving legal recourse to parents; see the last paragraph of image 2.

Here are links to copies of the draft bill and its summary:
documentcloud.org/documents/2203…

documentcloud.org/documents/2203…
#ncpol #ncga #ParentalRights