FULL DISCLOSURE: The writer, Jan Greenhawk, is the Chapter Chair for Moms for Liberty Talbot County.
It’s amazing how far people will go to defend an opinion that is indefensible. They will twist and turn themselves around to tell others that they shouldn't believe basic truths such as men are men and women are women.
What are parental rights?
Parental rights are the legally protected authority and responsibilities that parents have over the care, custody, and upbringing of their minor children. In U.S. law, they are treated as a fundamental liberty interest under the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause, meaning the government cannot interfere with parenting decisions without a strong justification. Parental Rights and Responsibilities Under U.S. Family Law
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The most recent example of the progressive meltdown is the Parental Rights Pledge. School board candidates in Talbot County, Maryland; Mike Butler, Anne Rosen, and Lisa Hayes, signed a “Parents Right Pledge” created by the national group Moms for Liberty. Many other candidates read the pledge and readily signed it. After all, it is a no brainer, right? Who could be against the fundamental rights of parents?
Hold on to that question.
Based on the reaction of some local Democrats, they are against those rights. When they saw that the candidates had signed the pledge, you would have thought that they signed an agreement to kill cute puppies. These Dems were apoplectic to the point of writing rude, hateful and incorrect opinions to a local publication. Here is the link to a letter to the editor and the comments following:
One county council candidate, Susan Delean Botkin, got confused about the signing of the pledge and stated in her comment, "All elected members take an oath of office to 'Protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, uphold the laws of the State of Maryland, ETC' Why are you requiring an oath in addition to this?"
Poor Susan. I guess she didn't understand that the candidates voluntarily signed the pledge to support parental rights. She probably didn't even read it. Signing was not required by anyone. In fact, she was way off base by using the pronoun "you" as if there was some giant master compelling their signing. We are not sure who she thinks that is. Is it a boogie man she made up in her mind? Possibly.
Of course, she signed as "Former President of the Talbot County School Board" as if we could ever forget that she held that office. We remember Susan. We sure do.
We remember you ignoring hundreds of parents' pleas to open schools and unmask their children after the first few months of COVID. We remember you lecturing school board meeting attendees about how you were fully vaccinated but wore your mask during school board meetings to "keep all of you safe." This is while you had your mask hanging below your mouth:
The mask pictured in the two pictures above was worn all day, including the bus ride home, by a YOUNG CHILD because of that mandate that Botkin supported. What is even worse is that in some cases, teachers in Talbot classrooms threatened students, some of them in kindergarten, that if they didn't keep the mask pulled up on their faces, they would "cause the death of other students." Yes, it happened.
Susan, it seems you helped assure that our children would be forever damaged educationally, emotionally and physically because you didn't believe in parent's rights.
Some people assumed that signing the pledge would make the candidates obligated to the organization that created it. Problem is that there is no obligation or reward inherent in the pledge. It just states that the candidate believes in advocating for parental rights for ALL parents.
Signing the pledge doesn't even give candidates an endorsement from Moms for Liberty.
what is the fundamental concept of parental rights?
The concept of parental rights is simple, right? As stated in the definition at the beginning of this article, all parents have the right to control what happens in the childhood of their kids. It covers schooling, medical care, safety, etc. Parental rights assure that the people who love the child as only a parent can, who are raising a child, who support a child, are the ones who decide what is best for that child. And, yes, those decisions are often based on the beliefs of the parents, religious or otherwise. Parents don't want outside people making those decisions, especially when those decisions go against the parent's beliefs. They also don't want government making those decisions.
It doesn’t matter if the parent is a Christian, a Muslim, Hindu, or even an atheist. They want to raise their children in the values they have. It doesn't matter if the parents are gay, straight, black, white, etc. Somehow this really bothers Democrats, to the extent that they want to take parental rights away and hand them over to a faceless state education monolith. Democrats want to pretend that other adults know better and care more about their children than parents and wish to allow those adults to make all the decisions for kids. Well, that is if the state ideology matches theirs. Otherwise, all bets are off.
Meanwhile the children don't learn and the Dems don't care. They link arms with the Teachers' Unions and form a virtual blockade against parents getting involved in their child's schooling.
what happens when parental rights and school system responsibilities clash?
I was a teacher for thirty years. I taught hundreds, maybe even thousands of kids. I coached youth sports. I valued and cared for my students. Yet, even so, I could never love any of those children as much as their parents did. And, if the parent wanted to know what I taught their child in the classroom, I would gladly share it. If they objected to something, then we would discuss and come to a resolution probably in the parent’s favor. Were there times when I had to defer to parents when I chose reading selections or assignments? Yes. Were there times when I didn't or couldn't? Also, yes.
The latter were few and far between, probably because as a teacher, I was tasked with teaching my students content, not religious, political, or gender ideology.
At one elementary school we had a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. If you don’t know their beliefs, Jehovahs don’t celebrate Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving or Halloween and a variety of other holidays. They don’t accept vaccinations, don't have birthday celebrations, don’t pledge to any flag, and don’t use the cross in their worship. School staff had to adapt to respect those beliefs with their children in the classroom and we did, particularly when lessons involved holidays.
I don’t remember a single teacher or principal saying, “Hey, they don’t have the right to tell us what to celebrate with or teach their child.” No, we just offered an alternative for the child. There was no big argument, no derogatory comments, none of that. Parents didn't have to go to school board meetings and beg for their rights.
But now Progressive Democrats don't want to respect that right. Don’t want your child to learn about vaginal, oral or anal sex in elementary school? Progressive Dems will call you a prude and insist your child should learn that. Don’t want your child to have access in the classroom to a book which graphically describes how to give a “handie” to a gay sex partner? They will call you a NAZI, homophobe or fascist and claim that you want to “ban all books you don’t like.” Want your child to be recognized as their gender at birth? Well now you’re just a transphobe. Don't want guidance counselors secretly transitioning your child from one gender to another or handing out birth control without your knowledge? How dare you!
The book “This Book is Gay” is a prime example of an objectionable book being used in schools. "This Book is Gay” is so pornographic that a parent who wanted to explain why it should not be allowed in school classrooms asked that children leave a Board meeting before she read an excerpt from it: (Warning, the video here contains graphic descriptions of sex)
Mom Blasts School Board Over Graphic Book!
Quite frankly, there are other books out there that are even worse.
Progressives lost their collective MINDS over the very thought that a parent wouldn't want their middle school child to read this sexual guidebook. They wanted that book in the classroom or school library. Some wanted it read to students in class. They forget that a parent, if they want, has the right to allow their child to read the book. On the flip side other parents have the right to keep their child from being exposed to it. But let’s not get stuck on the obvious.
By the way, it's the same for books that depict heterosexual sex acts, abuse or rape.
why should parents trust schools and teachers?
For the most part, teachers and school employees are good people. I know, I worked with many throughout my career. If all teachers were allowed to stick to their mission of teaching children to read, write and do math, there would be no problem.
If you ask many of them, they would love to do just that.
I don’t think parents should micro-manage classrooms. It’s better that they get to know their child’s teacher and develop trust and open dialogue. But it is not out of bounds for parents to question the appropriateness of instructional materials, lessons, classroom flags, decor and books read to their child. The materials should be available to parents to review so they know what their child is surrounded by and is learning.
Let's not forget that parents are also the taxpayers whose taxes pay that teacher's salary, provide the building their child is taught in, and purchase the instructional materials, etc.
It’s important that teachers know their boundaries. We used to teach new teachers that their personal lives were to be kept personal and that sexual preferences or activities had no business in their classrooms.
The same was true for political beliefs. In fact, many of us worked very hard NOT to show our students what our political leanings were. Yet, today's teachers seem to feel it okay to not only tell students their political beliefs but indoctrinate them in those beliefs.
There are teachers using CHILDREN to AFFIRM and VALIDATE the sexual choices of the teachers. We have teachers vowing to turn children into “social justice warriors” supporting the extreme cause of the day. We have schools allowing the students to leave the building and protest a current social justice issue. That is NOT their right or responsibility.
Colorado student protest over ICE turns violent in Denver - Colorado Springs Gazette Colorado student protest over ICE turns violent in Denver - Colorado Springs Gazette
Some of these schools use the excuse that these protests are "student generated" and therefore okay. Clearly the kids are directed to do this by some adult, possibly a school employee.
What's worse is that we have teachers and counselors telling children that they can change their name, their "pronouns" and their gender and they don't have to tell mom and/or dad.
The last one is the most frightening denial of parental rights. When school personnel hide student information from parents, they are basically telling children NOT to trust their parents. This is a tactic that has been used by dictators and tyrants. Communist China, under Mao, had children turn on their parents and report them to authorities if the parents went against Mao. The result was the parents being sent to camps and in some cases, killed.
We have to understand what is going on here. There is a concerted effort in our country to divide us. The only way they can do this is to use our schools all the way from Pre-K to college to indoctrinate our children with dangerous ideas and monolithic thinking. Children must have their innocence destroyed in order to promote the practices of every fringe sexual preference, even pedophilia. The more the abhorrent is normalized, the better chance that those who are abhorrent will have their way with our kids. It’s what they have done in China, the USSR, Cuba, Hitler’s Germany and North Korea along with other Communist or authoritarian country.
Progressive Democrats want Conservative parents to stay out of what is taught in our schools but have no problem poking their noses into classrooms to advance their preferred agenda. Imagine the angst and furor if a Christian teacher started to teach about the life of Christ or read the Bible in a public school. You’d have to put guards on the classroom door to the keep the Progressive Democrats from driving that teacher out of the school with tar and feathers. So, what is the answer?
I don’t think Democrats want pedophiles to have access to children, but I think they are being led to believe that the current practices in schools are innocuous and are what's best for kids. If they would take the time to see the long-term effects of classroom indoctrination, they might see the truth and change their lock step compliance. Indoctrination differs from education in that indoctrination teaches children what to think rather than how to think, reducing intellectual flexibility, critical thinking, independence and curiosity. If you ask most parents, they don't want those negative effects. They want their children to have the basic skills and knowledge they need to be successful adults so they CAN competently examine different viewpoints and information.
But many of these parents also want to be that “cool parent” who is edgy and “woke,” even if it harms their child. It makes them afraid to take a stand with their child when that adolescent child says they want to be a different gender or that they support outlandish ideas. They give in, hoping it will all work out. The following story about Chloe Cole exposes the folly of that action:
Who is Chloe Cole? Are detransitioners suing the doctors who treated them – Deseret News
Of course, there are some parents who are physically abusive or neglectful of their children. In those situations, there are laws that protect children from parental physical abuse, and those laws must be followed. In those cases, the courts adjudicate the rights of the parents and the child. Eventually, the Supreme Court gets involved with more complicated issues.
how should schools address parental rights?
How about this. How about if schools teach math, reading, science, writing, and history without bringing in every ideological cause, fringe idea and distortion. How about if we leave political beliefs, gender identity, sexual preferences to parents and families. Let’s be clear and open about what is being taught in grade level lessons and not require expensive freedom of information filings for parents to find out.
How about if we hire good teachers and train them to teach content and manage students so they can learn the basic information and skills they need to be competent, productive, thinking adults? And let’s make parents important partners in the education process instead of portraying those who ask questions as the enemy.
Let's also train teachers to work with parents. Parent rights are something everyone should be able to get behind.
The fact that Progressive Democrats can’t do that exposes them as hypocrites and tyrants. Wonder what they will do when they disagree with the instructional program? Think about it.
current lawsuits regarding parental rights
The courts are now being involved in lawsuits regarding the issues of parental rights when it comes to gender transitioning:
| Case | Jurisdiction | Issue | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirabelli v. Bonta | U.S. Supreme Court | CA policies requiring secrecy about student gender transitions | Parents granted relief; major precedent |
| United States v. KCKPS | DOJ (Federal District Court) | Secret gender transitions violating FERPA/PPRA | DOJ lawsuit filed (2026) |
| NJ District Cases | NJ State & Federal Courts | Policies withholding gender‑identity info from parents | Ongoing |
There was also this case in Montgomery County, Maryland:
| Case | Issue | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Mahmoud v. Taylor | MCPS eliminated parental opt‑outs for LGBTQ+-inclusive books | $1.5M settlement restoring opt‑outs |
And these cases filed against Anne Arundel County Public Schools:
| Case / Action | Issue | Key Finding / Status |
|---|---|---|
| Doe v. AACPS | Secret gender transition; parental‑rights violations | Active federal lawsuit; alleges concealment and policy‑driven secrecy |
| DOJ + ED Enforcement | FERPA violations; withholding records | Federal agencies allege improper secrecy; enforcement underway |
| AACPS Policy Revision (Aug https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/anne-arundel-schools-amend-gender-identity-policy-trump-administration-threat/?utm_source=copilot.com2026) | Confidentiality rules narrowed | District now explicitly affirms full parental access to gender‑identity records |
It's clear that the irrational attacks on candidates who signed the Parental Rights Pledge have less to do with reality than with hatred for the organizations/politicians that support parental rights. It's guaranteed that every one of the parents, grandparents, or community members railing against the issue would be the first ones at the school district's door if they thought THEIR parental rights were being violated. That's what makes the protests so curious. Don't these parents see that the pledge is for ALL PARENTS and not just certain ones?
They know that, but they ignore it with the idea that when it comes to them, they will get what they want anyway. That's what hypocrites do. It's the "rights for me but not thee" philosophy that is the underpinning of what radical leftists support.
It's why they can't stand parental rights and anyone who supports them.
Signing a parent's rights pledge shouldn't have to be an act of courage. Somehow, that is what it has become. We should be praising and supporting these candidates.
