By Gretchen Schuldt
The so-called “Parent’s Rights” bill pending in the Legislature probably does not stand a chance of getting past Gov. Evers’ veto pen, but still drew way more written public comments – 153 pages of them – than is typical for any sort of legislation. There were about 100 comments in opposition to the bill, AB510, and 17 in support. Those numbers are estimates because some of the comments, filed with the Assembly’s Family Law Committee as public hearing testimony, were included twice in the record of the hearing. WJI tried to eliminate the second inclusions, but may have missed some. The committee recommended adoption of the bill on a 6-3 party-line vote, which was followed by a 62-35 party-line Assembly vote in favor of the bill. Two Republicans, Loren Oldenburg of Viroqua, and Travis Tranel, of Cuba City, did not vote. The measure is now pending in the Senate. (The Senate companion bill is SB489). A chart showing the sponsors of the bill is at the bottom of this post. As a brief refresher, the bill would provide parents or guardians with 16 specific rights and would allow a parent or guardian to sue if any of the new rights are violated. The new rights would include the right to:
The bill would allow parents/guardians who feel one of the rights was violated to sue "a governmental body or official" and, if successful, collect up to $10,000 plus any "reasonable attorney's fees and costs." Here are excerpts from some of the submitted comments/testimony. For adoption: In recent years, many parents have become more actively involved in the education of their children. Unfortunately, public school districts have not always respected parental rights. – State Rep. Robert Wittke (R-Racine). Against adoption: This legislation proposal claims to be about parental rights, but is more truthfully about disrupting the processes, protocols, and programs of both private and public schools. It grants parents the power to interfere in the day-to-day affairs of education, dictating what educators are allowed to teach. … We assert that this bill was created with the intention of censorship and has no connection with meaningful, constructive parental involvement or engagement toward improving community life. – Rev. Breanna lllene, director of ecumenical innovation and justice initiatives, Wisconsin Council of Churches
0 Comments
|
Donate
Help WJI advocate for justice in Wisconsin
|