Parents’ Bill of Rights Act of 2021
Bill: S.3218 | Sponsor: Sen. Hawley, Josh (R-MO)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Parents' Bill of Rights Act of 2021
This bill establishes various rights of parents and guardians regarding the elementary or secondary school education of their minor children.
Specifically, the bill prohibits a state (or its agents, subdivisions, or agents of its subdivisions) from denying certain rights to a parent or guardian of a minor child regarding the child's education. These include, among others, the right to (1) fully review and make copies of the curricula, books, and other educational materials used by the child's school; (2) access information on teachers, guest lecturers, and outside presenters; (3) access school records; and (4) visit the child during school hours.
A person aggrieved by a violation of this bill, and a state on behalf of its residents, may bring a civil action for injunctive relief.
The bill also requires the Department of Education to withhold federal education funds from a state for noncompliance with this bill.

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
                     for a Parents' Bill of Rights.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Parents' Bill of Rights Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. PARENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart 2 of part F of title VIII of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 8549D. PARENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS.

    ``(a) In General.--No State, its agents, its subdivisions, or the 
agents of its subdivisions shall deny to the parent or guardian of a 
minor child any or all of the following rights:
            ``(1) The right to fully review, in physical or digital 
        optical character recognition format, and make copies of, the 
        curricula, books, and other educational materials used by the 
        school attended by their minor child or local educational 
        agency that serves such school. This right shall be understood 
        to--
                    ``(A) include a right to affirmative disclosure of 
                class syllabi and reading lists to the parent or 
                guardian of a minor child by the school attended by 
                their minor child or local educational agency that 
                serves such school; and
                    ``(B) prohibit a requirement that an individual 
                sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition to 
                viewing or otherwise accessing curricular materials.
            ``(2) The right to access information on the teachers, 
        guest lecturers, and outside presenters who engage with 
        students at the school attended by their minor child. This 
        right shall be understood to prohibit schools from permitting 
        or requiring the attendance of minor children at school 
        assemblies, field trips, and other extracurricular activities, 
        absent affirmative consent from their parent or guardian.
            ``(3) The right to access information on all third-party 
        individuals and organizations that receive contracts or other 
        funding through the school attended by their minor child or the 
        local educational agency that serves such school.
            ``(4) The right to visit their minor child at school during 
        school hours.
            ``(5) The right to access all records generated by the 
        school attended by their minor child or the local educational 
        agency that serves such school that concerns their minor child.
            ``(6) The right to access information pertaining to the 
        collection and transmission of data regarding their minor child 
        by the school attended by their minor child or the local 
        educational agency that serves such school. This right shall be 
        understood to--
                    ``(A) include a right to access information on any 
                outside entity, including an accreditor, marketing 
                consultancy, or third-party clearinghouse, to which 
                student data, whether anonymized or not, is 
                transferred;
                    ``(B) prohibit the collection, by the school 
                attended by their minor child or the local educational 
                agency that serves such school, of any biometric data 
                or other sensitive personal information from the minor 
                child, absent affirmative consent by a parent or 
                guardian of the minor child; and
                    ``(C) require that schools and local educational 
                agencies serving such schools make available processes 
                by which the parent or guardian of a minor child can 
                object in writing to, and deny consent to, the use of 
                videographic, photographic, or audio depictions of 
                their minor child by the school or local educational 
                agency serving such school.
            ``(7) The right to be heard at school board meetings or 
        other governance hearings pertaining to the school attended by 
        their minor child or the local educational agency that serves 
        such school. This right shall be understood to require that 
        school board meetings or other governance hearings pertaining 
        to curricula, safety, and other student issues be conducted 
        publicly and allow for public comments.
            ``(8) The right to be notified of situations affecting the 
        safety of their minor child at school. This right shall be 
        understood to require, but is not limited to requiring, that 
        schools notify parents or guardians in a timely manner of any 
        or all of the following incidents:
                    ``(A) Physical assaults occurring in or around the 
                school.
                    ``(B) Sexual assaults occurring in or around the 
                school.
                    ``(C) Appearances of weapons in or around the 
                school.
                    ``(D) Drug use or possession in or around the 
                school.
                    ``(E) Police investigations in or around the 
                school.
                    ``(F) Crimes, including misdemeanors, committed by 
                teachers or other school or local educational agency 
                employees, whether such offenses were committed on or 
                off the campus of a school.
    ``(b) Enforcement.--
            ``(1) Civil action.--Any person who is denied one or more 
        of the rights identified in subsection (a) may bring a civil 
        action in any court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive 
        relief.
            ``(2) State enforcement.--In any case in which the attorney 
        general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of 
        the residents of that State has been or is threatened or 
        adversely affected by the engagement of any entity in an act or 
        practice denying one or more of the rights identified in 
        subsection (a), the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil 
        action on behalf of the residents of the State in a district 
        court of the United States or a State court of appropriate 
        jurisdiction to obtain injunctive relief.
            ``(3) Withholding of funds for persistent violations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a State is not in compliance, 
                as described in subparagraph (B), for a fiscal year the 
                Secretary shall withhold from the State 50 percent of 
                the total amount required to be apportioned to the 
                State or any subdivision of the State under this Act on 
                the first day of the following fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Noncompliance.--A State shall be deemed 
                noncompliant for a fiscal year for purposes of this 
                paragraph if, within the 5-year period before the date 
                of the determination, there was not less than 3 final 
                judgments (that were not reversed on appeal) in 
                separate suits for injunctive relief filed pursuant to 
                paragraph (1) or (2), or both, in which the plaintiffs 
                prevailed against the State, its agents, its 
                subdivisions, or the agents of its subdivisions, and in 
                which the court granted injunctive relief.''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 2 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 8549C the following:

``Sec. 8549D. Parents' Bill of Rights.''.
                                 <all>