(March 25, official editorial of the Washington Examiner) State by state, parental rights and parental choice are being vindicated and promoted, even as the federal government and some bad judges work to erode the most instinctive, deepest, and profound of human relationships.
In the past few weeks, Alabama and Idaho joined the pro-parent counterrevolution. Alabama on March 7 became the 12th state to adopt a universally accessible school choice program. (Another 16 states have at last limited private school choice options.) On March 21, Gov. Brad Little (R-ID) signed a new law ensuring parents’ rights to their own minor children’s medical records and approving all medical services for those children. The usual exceptions are provided for genuine emergencies or resulting from court orders, the latter usually due to abuse or neglect. The law also gives Idaho parents a private right of legal action against whoever denies this parental authority.
On the education front, this publication has editorialized numerous times in favor of school choice, calling it “one of the worthiest sociopolitical efforts of the past few decades.” Almost everywhere choice systems are adopted, they are overwhelmingly popular with parents, and they tend to result in higher test scores and better character development of students. Yet Alabama’s legislature, even many of whose Republicans have been beholden to the state education union, last year balked at major school-choice expansion. This year, though, Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) made it a priority, and legislators redesigned the proposal from an education savings account to a $7,000 refundable tax credit. All students in the program must continue to take standardized tests.
“Today’s world is all about customization, flexibility, and choices,” said Republican state Rep. Danny Garrett, the bill’s sponsor, after both legislative chambers passed the plan overwhelmingly. In a state whose schools for the last decade consistently have ranked among the six or seven worst in the nation, it was a moral outrage that parents did not enjoy the choice to move their children away from failing educational districts. Henceforth, they will.
As for the Idaho law, it comes amid and in salutary response against national left-wing movements to deny parental rights in education, healthcare, and other realms….. [The full editorial is at this link.]