GOP Gov Who Blamed Bad Parents
Wants Bill of Rights for Them Now
Capitol Inside
January 20, 2022
Four months after blaming bad parenting for violent crime in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott launched a crusade on Thursday to give parents more power to decide how their children will be educated in the state's public school system.
“When it comes to the classroom, Texas parents should have every right to know what their children are being taught," Abbott said in appearance at a charter school in the Dallas-Fort area suburbs. "Under my plan, we will expand parents’ access to course curriculum, and all material that is available in schools. Also, we will ensure that if a parent has a concern about curriculum or policies, that those concerns are heard quickly and respectfully.”
Dubbing the initiative as the Parental Bill of Rights, the Republican governor told the Founders Classical Academy of Lewisville that the legislation he's proposing would be incorporated into the Texas Constitution as an amendment. That could be the kiss of death, however, in light of the fact that the measure would require some Democrats on board at the Texas Capitol where it would need two-thirds support in both chambers of the Legislature.
Abbott ran the risk of ruining his shot at bipartisan votes in the next legislative session by tying the plan to his opposition to mask mandates and the Republicans' ongoing war against critical race theory that they claim to be poisoning public education in Texas without any meaningful evidence to back up the rhetoric.
Abbott and his GOP allies at the statehouse in Austin had never debated, discussed or even heard of CRT until Donald Trump enlightened to the concept and added it to their marching orders in regular and special session in 2021. With a record number of challengers running to the right of incumbent Republican in races for state and federal offices in 2022, critical race theory has become a battle cry for leaders and lawmakers who are scrambling to shore up their credentials for the far right with the primary election on March 1.
“When Texas parents were rightfully upset about CRT being taught in Texas schools, I signed two bills banning CRT in Texas public schools," Abbott said tonight. "Now Texas has the toughest anti-CRT protections in the nation.”
“But there is more we must do to preserve the rights of parents and give our children the future they deserve,” the governor added.
Abbott appeared to have a dramatically different of parental competence at a bill signing ceremony in September when he attributed the need for bail reform to failed mothers and fathers in families that have two parents.
"We need better parenting, greater parental involvement," Abbott said at the time. "We need to restore God in our communities," Abbott said. "If we do that, we will be able to reduce crime in this region."
The parenting publication Fatherly excoriated the Texas governor's justification for the measure that placed new restrictions on the ability of judges to release people who've been convicted of crimes from jail until their cases are resolved. The New York-based digital journal contended that the system in Texas had been stacked against parents during Abbott's reign as the top leader here - citing the GOP's opposition to a Medicaid expansion that would have made 1.4 million more adults who are uninsured eligible for government-subsidized health insurance.
Abbott critics said he'd increased hardships for parents during the COVID-19 pandemic by having the state opt-out of a federal unemployment program that provided parents who'd lost their jobs with an additional $300 a week.
But Democrats may be inclined to oppose the bill of rights for parents based simply on the way it would weaken the roles that educators in the public school system play in their kids' lives. |
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Morgan LaMantia
SD 27 - DEM
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Mayes Middleton
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Alex Dominguez
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SD 11 - GOP
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Bianca Gracia
SD 11 - GOP
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SD 27 - DEM
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Bob Mitchell
SD 11 - GOP
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Source: Texas Ethics
Commission |
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