Shannon Holmes, Ed.D, executive director of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, issues the following statement following Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign announcement of a “Parental Bill of Rights”:

“The so-called ‘Parental Bill of Rights’ wouldn’t give Texas parents any new rights. Every ‘issue’ described is already addressed in existing state law and local policies. Instead, Gov. Abbott’s pledge to ‘bolster’ parent rights would only serve to place additional governmental mandates on school districts and teachers already stretched to their limits due to staffing shortages. Wasting precious taxpayer dollars and eliminating the local control cherished by Texans for generations will do nothing to improve public schools or enhance parents’ rights.

“Parents and educators are partners in a child’s learning, which is already reflected in our state’s education code and the daily practices of school districts across the state. This proposal reeks of grandstanding and only serves to further make our students and teachers political pawns.

“On behalf of the state’s largest community of educators, I urge voters to compare their personal experiences with Texas public schools to the governor’s rhetoric—and make up their own minds.”
 

About the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)
Founded in 1980, ATPE is the leading educators’ association in Texas with approximately 100,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, and future, retired, and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for Texas’ five million public school students. | atpe.org