LANSING, Mich. — The Senate on Tuesday adopted a resolution affirming its commitment to the fundamental rights of parents to direct the education of their children.
“It has never been more important for parents to be involved in their children’s education,” said Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, who chairs the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee and sponsored the resolution. “Michigan students are already struggling with education loss and mental health issues because of decisions made by government bureaucrats and teachers unions to close 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.”
Senate Resolution 107 underscores the “natural fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children” that has been a cornerstone declaration in Michigan law for over 25 years. The Michigan Revised School Code states “the public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil’s parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil’s intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment.”
“Throughout our country, parental rights are being threatened,” Theis said. “They are threatened by activist school boards, teachers’ unions and radical leftist partisans that are doing everything they can to separate parents from their children academically. It is parents — not governors, not legislators, and not educators — who are in the best position to know their kids’ needs and circumstances. It is the parents’ authority that must be respected and maintained to ensure the best decisions for Michigan children’s education, health and wellbeing.”
The resolution also calls on the governor to publicly acknowledge the fundamental rights of parents over the upbringing of their children, including their central role in determining what children are learning.
Upon its adoption, copies of the resolution will be transmitted to the governor, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Board of Education.
###