Senator Theis’ statement is as follows:
Before you is Senate Resolution No. 107, affirming the fundamental and guaranteed rights of parents to direct the education of their children. It is unfortunate that the situation is such that we must do this but throughout our country, parental rights are being threatened. We’ve seen the disdain the left holds against parents’ rights in education as they say the quiet stuff out loud, not only on social media, but on the Senate floor. Even the proposed amendment that was suggested ignored that the bureaucrats and the Governor were the ones making those decisions on health and athletics for our students, not the Legislature and most certainly not the parents.
When challenged after the firestorm they created among our parents, they realized they said publicly what they really think and then deleted their messages in hopes people would forget and move on. As was already read by my colleague, the sentiment has frankly been reiterated from the Senate floor that the parents should not be the ones in control. 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, that they are doing everything they can to separate parents from their children academically. Parents don’t want their children given a political agenda at school. They want their children to be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic; true history, with all its warts, without an agenda while honoring all those who have contributed without demeaning our children. They want to be able to make the decisions regarding their children’s health—whether to vaccinate, whether to mask. They want the opportunity for their kids to be in school, in person, getting an education.
In the last year, we’ve seen parents around the country, and even next door in Grand Ledge, being treated as if they were terrorists because they wanted to have some control over their students’ education. Parents are speaking out and getting engaged, and many parents are not only speaking at the meetings, they’re now running for these positions. We’ve seen political dynasties overturned because parents want back in the driver’s seat and according to our law, they already have it. It has never been more important for parents to be involved in their children’s education. Students are already struggling with educational loss, mental health issues, and because of the decisions made by government bureaucrats and teachers unions to close these schools and force virtual learning in a failed response to COVID-19. The only hope for getting kids back on track is to ensure their parents have a say both in where they are taught and what they are taught.
It is parents—not governors, not legislators, not educational elite—who are in the best position to know their children’s needs and circumstances. It is the parents’ authority that must be respected and maintained to ensure the best decisions for Michigan’s children, their education, their health, and their well-being. We are calling on the Governor to publicly acknowledge the rights of parents for their children’s education. That’s what this resolution is about and it’s why I ask for your support.
By unanimous consent the Senate returned to the order of
Messages from the House
Senate Bill No. 412, entitled
A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled “The social welfare act,” by amending section 109h (MCL 400.109h), as added by 2004 PA 248.
(This bill was returned from the House on Thursday, February 17 with a House substitute (H-1), immediate effect and full title, and was laid over under the rules. See Senate Journal No. 16, p. 163.)
The question being on concurring in the substitute made to the bill by the House,
The substitute was concurred in, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: