This week, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita rolled out the fourth update to his office’s Parents’ Bill of Rights – a roadmap for moms and dads seeking to maximize their involvement in school governance, curriculum, medical decisions for their children, and choosing where their kids attend school.
The latest version includes a new section emphasizing Hoosiers’ precious freedom to practice their religious beliefs, including within the walls of public schools.
Rokita
“The Parents’ Bill of Rights is the result of direct conversations with parents,” AG Rokita said. “Across Indiana, Hoosier moms and dads tell us that their children’s schools spend more time indoctrinating kids with historically and scientifically incorrect anti-American propaganda and exposing them to sexual and perverted materials than teaching math, science, reading and writing. With our test scores falling behind the rest of the world, schools cannot afford one second of distraction from these subjects.”
According to Rokita, the best educators fully respect the value of involved parents in the process of maintaining high-quality schools.
“The single most effective way to ensure school accountability is for parents to fulfill their rightful roles in directing their children’s education and upbringing,” Rokita said. “The Parents’ Bill of Rights empowers them to do just that by ensuring they know their legal rights and responsibilities in Indiana.”
Rokita and his team released the first volume of his Parents’ Bill of Rights in June 2021. That installment focused on school governance, curriculum adoption, standards adoption, and civil rights complaints.
The second volume, released in November 2021, detailed parents’ rights regarding medical decisions for their children, such as access to student health records, vaccination requirements, and educational accommodations.
The third volume, released in July 2022, focused on school choice – the liberty of parents to choose where their children attend school.
Rokita’s team has updated all three of those existing volumes with fresh information arising from such developments as new legislation or to answer additional questions submitted by Hoosiers from across Indiana – along with adding the new section on religious liberty.
“In this one nation under God, America’s founders knew the fundamental importance of faith,” Rokita said. “Just as they sought to protect liberty in their generation, our team works to prevent government from infringing on Hoosiers’ rights in our own time.”
The latest installment features a helpful Q&A section, including such questions as:
- Can students read or distribute religious material at school? (Yes, provided that the material is distributed during non-instructional time.)
- Can students leave campus during the school day to participate in religious instructional activities? (Yes. Under Indiana law, a parent may request that a student be released from his or her public school for up to two hours each week to attend outside religious instruction.)
- Can religious clubs meet on school grounds? (Yes. A school must treat every recognized non-curriculum-related student organization equally.)
The entire Parents’ Bill of Rights is available online at this link. Changes to the law will be reflected in future digital publications.
Click here to watch Attorney General Rokita’s live press event discussing updates on his office’s work to protect Hoosier children and defend parents’ rights.