LANSING, Mich. — Republican state senators sparked some fierce debate while passing a resolution that “affirmed” their commitment to the rights of parents to direct the education of their children, while also calling on Governor Whitmer to publicly acknowledge that.
“It is unfortunate that the situation is such that we must do this, but throughout our country, parental rights are being threatened,” said co-sponsor State Sen. Lana Theis (R–Brighton).
The resolution, which is essentially just a recorded public statement, also claims radical politics are “permeating public school curricula" and criticizes the governor for vetoing scholarship bills that the governor compared to school vouchers.
There’s now a ballot drive being pushed by Republicans to pass the latter proposal and circumvent her veto.
The resolution’s adoption comes as battles over masks, vaccines and which books are taught in schools have permeated board meetings across the state. Just Monday night in Forest Hills, a man addressed the school board and called them “the face of evil.”
“The parents see everything, and they are rightfully fed up. They're fed up with being threatened by activists within their school boards, teachers, unions and leftist politicians,” Theis added on the Senate floor.
Democratic lawmakers argue the resolution is not necessary, saying actions like this undermine public school teachers, while parents do have the ability to elect local school board members to influence decisions.
“Once again this Legislature is trying to devalue the teaching profession writ large. I mean, do you really want your cousin's best friend's husband who thinks the earth is flat to be influencing or directing the science or geography curriculum?” says State Sen. Erika Geiss (D–Taylor).
“We all know that student success is largely tied to parental involvement and that parents should be part of the decision-making process. That's the part I agree with. The rest of [the resolution] is a bunch of political nonsense thrown in with that, in order to try to score political points,” added state Sen. Curtis Hertel (D–East Lansing).
To read the full resolution, click here.
