Parents, as your children head back to school, remember this: You know and love your child best. You are your child\u2019s first and most important educator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have a right to know what your child is being taught, what information the school is keeping about your child, and what decisions are being made that affect your child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recent court decisions and federal protections have strengthened parental rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are four rights every parent should know, and what you can do to exercise them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Know Your Right<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Parents have constitutional protections when school instruction conflicts with their religious beliefs. Recent Supreme Court decisions have strengthened parents\u2019 ability to receive notice and opt their children out of certain instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What To Do<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Ask your school for its opt-out policies. Put your request in writing and keep a copy for your records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GET A CUSTOMIZABLE OPT-OUT LETTER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Know Your Right<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> FERPA gives parents the right to access their child\u2019s education records, including certain records involving names, pronouns, gender identity, or other significant school interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What To Do<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Request your child\u2019s records in writing. Be specific about what you want to see and document the school\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GET HELP REQUESTING YOUR CHILD\u2019S RECORDS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Know Your Right<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Federal law gives parents important rights regarding certain instructional materials and student surveys involving sensitive subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What To Do<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Review curriculum, reading lists, instructional materials, and surveys. Ask questions about what is being used in your child\u2019s classroom before concerns arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GET A SAMPLE LETTER TO ASSERT YOUR RIGHTS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Know Your Right:<\/em><\/strong> Title IX protects students from sex discrimination in federally funded schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What To Do<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Review your school\u2019s policies for bathrooms, locker rooms, athletics, and other sex-separated activities. If you believe your child\u2019s protections are being violated, put your concerns in writing and know your options for filing a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LEARN HOW TO FILE A TITLE IX COMPLAINT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n No one matters more in a child\u2019s life than parents, and your involvement can make all the difference for your child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click\u00a0HERE<\/a>\u00a0to watch Keri D. Ingraham\u2019s interview on Tiffany Meier Tonight on NTD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Parents, as your children head back to school, remember this: You know and love your child best. You are your child\u2019s first and most important educator. You have a right to know what your child is being taught, what information the school is keeping about your child, and what decisions are being made that affect your child. Recent court decisions and federal protections have strengthened parental rights. Here are four rights every parent should know, and what you can do to exercise them. You Have the Right to Opt Out Know Your Right: Parents have constitutional protections when school instruction conflicts with their religious beliefs. Recent Supreme Court decisions have strengthened parents\u2019 ability to receive notice and opt their children out Read More ›<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":441,"featured_media":10101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1462],"tags":[3211,78,205,1445,1294,3210,794,3212,3213,3214,2951,2358],"coauthors":[1073],"class_list":["post-10095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parental-rights","tag-constitutional-protections","tag-k-12","tag-k-12-education","tag-keri-d-ingraham","tag-keri-ingraham","tag-opt-out","tag-parental-rights","tag-sex-discrimination","tag-sex-separated-spaces","tag-student-records","tag-supreme-court","tag-title-ix"],"acf":[],"author_names":["Keri D. Ingraham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10095"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10105,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10095\/revisions\/10105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10095"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10095"}],"wp:action-assign-author":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post\/10095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}You Have the Right to Your Child’s Records<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You Have the Right to Know What Your Child is Being Taught<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You Have the Right to Ensure Sex-Separated Spaces<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Stay Informed. Stay Engaged. Speak Up. Take Action.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n