Empowering Parents Act

Bill: 118-hr-5327
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Good, Bob [R-VA-5]
Introduced: 2023-09-01
Policy area: Education
Latest action: action_date: 2023-09-01
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-09-01
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Empowering Parents Act</strong></p> <p>This bill prohibits certain actions by public elementary and secondary schools. </p> <p>Specifically, the bill prohibits schools from</p> <ul> <li>compelling a teacher or student to adopt, affirm, adhere to, or profess certain ideas (e.g., that the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist) or any idea in violation of Title IV or Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;</li> <li>compelling a student to observe or espouse obscene or sexual materials without parental consent;</li> <li>instructing or requiring an employee to refer to a student using a pronoun not associated with the biological sex of the student without parental consent;</li> <li>acting as the agent of a parent for purposes of providing verifiable parental consent or receiving a notice or other information required to be provided to a parent; or</li> <li>neglecting to report sexual assault or sexual harassment on school property to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.</li> </ul> <p> A parent aggrieved by conduct prohibited under the bill may commerce a civil action against the school.</p>

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5327 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 1, 2023 Mr. Good of Virginia (for himself, Mrs. Miller of Illinois , Mr. LaMalfa , and Mr. Biggs ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To establish a private right of action for parents with respect to the teaching of racial discrimination theory and other actions by covered schools, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Empowering Parents Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The family unit consisting of a mother, father, and child is the foundation of civil society. (2) The rights and authority of parents are God-given and self-evident. (3) The rights and authority of parents do not derive from the government. (4) The rights and authority of parents should not be challenged or undermined by the government, but must be preserved and protected. (5) Parents are responsible for impressing faith, morals, and values upon their children; such responsibility does not belong to teachers, school board members, or politicians. (6) No teacher, school board member, or public official has the right to politicize or indoctrinate children. (7) More than 70 percent of citizens of the United States support the ability of parents to choose where students attend school. (8) It is contrary to the 10th Amendment of the Constitution and the principles of federalism espoused by the founding fathers for the Federal Government to supersede State or local authorities regarding the instruction and testing of students. (9) Taxpayers have a right to know what publicly funded schools are teaching students. 3. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) a covered school should not— (A) deny a student the ability to attend school in person; (B) intentionally expose a student to racial discrimination theory; (C) intentionally expose a student to radical gender theory or sexually explicit content; (D) require a biological woman to compete against a biological man in an athletic competition hosted or sponsored by such school; (E) require a biological woman and a biological man to share a private facility, including— (i) a restroom; (ii) a locker room; (iii) a shower facility; or (iv) a changing room; or (F) require a student to abide by a health mandate without first obtaining parental consent or require, as a prerequisite for in-person school attendance— (i) wearing a mask; (ii) receiving a COVID–19 vaccine; or (iii) subjecting to a medical screening; (2) a covered school should— (A) protect the personal information of every student, as required under section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 ) ( 20 U.S.C. 1232g ); and (B) be parent-led and locally managed with State oversight; (3) Federal law enforcement agencies should not target a parent for exercising First Amendment rights on school property or in school board meetings; and (4) a parent should have the ability to choose the school that the children of such parent attend. 4. Prohibitions (a) In general A covered school may not— (1) compel a teacher or student to adopt, affirm, adhere to, or profess— (A) any academic discipline, program, or activity that is premised on the idea that— (i) the United States is a Nation founded on White supremacy and oppression, or that these forces are at the root of American society; (ii) one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; (iii) the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist; (iv) an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; (v) an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex; (vi) members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex; (vii) an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex; (viii) an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex; (ix) any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex; or (x) meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race; or (B) an idea, where such compulsion violates title IV or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000c et seq. ); (2) compel a student to observe or espouse obscene or sexual materials without the consent of a parent of such student; (3) instruct or require an employee of such school to refer to a student using a pronoun not associated with the biological sex of such student, without obtaining consent to do so from a parent of such student; (4) act as the agent of a parent of a student enrolled in such school, for purposes of— (A) providing verifiable parental consent; or (B) receiving a notice or other information required to be provided to a parent of such student; or (5) neglect to report sexual assault or sexual harassment on school property to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. (b) Rule of construction Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a teacher or a student from discussing public policy issues or matters of public debate. 5. Private right of action (a) In general A parent aggrieved by a violation of section 4 may commence a civil action against the covered school responsible for the violation. (b) Relief In any action under subsection (a), the court may award appropriate relief, including— (1) temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief; (2) compensatory damages; (3) punitive or exemplary damages; and (4) reasonable fees for attorneys. (c) Statute of limitations An action under this section shall be brought not later than 30 days after the date on which the violation of section 4 occurred. (d) Attorney General In a case in which a parent commences a civil action under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall have the exclusive authority to oversee, as appropriate, any investigation conducted by the Federal Government in connection with such action. 6. Definitions In this Act: (1) Biological man The term biological man means an individual who is recognized as a male on the date of the birth of such individual, based on the genetic and reproductive biological characteristics of such individual. (2) Biological sex The term biological sex means the sex recognized on the date of birth of the individual based on the genetic and reproductive biological characteristics of such individual. (3) Biological woman The term biological woman means an individual who is recognized as a female on the date of the birth of such individual, based on the genetic and reproductive biological characteristics of such individual. (4) Covered school The term covered school means an elementary school or secondary school, as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ). (5) Obscene material The term obscene material means material that, considered as a whole— (A) appeals to— (i) the prurient interest; or (ii) a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, excretory functions or products thereof, or sadomasochistic abuse; (B) goes substantially beyond customary limits of candor in description or representation of the matters described in clause (A)(ii); and (C) does not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. (6) Parent The term parent has the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ).