Bondi warns states, schools not to silence parents' voice in education

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(The Center Square) – U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi warned states and school boards on Tuesday not to trample the rights of parents when they speak out about education issues in a memo. 

"The First Amendment guarantees the right of every citizen to speak freely, assemble peaceably, and petition the government for redress of grievances, including at public school board meetings," she wrote in a memo to all 93 U.S. Attorneys. "These rights do not yield to political trends or bureaucratic convenience. While schools must maintain order, such authority cannot be used as a pretext to silence dissent or punish parents for expressing their views."

Bondi said that in recent years school officials and others "have ignored, dismissed, or even retaliated against concerned parents." She specifically mentioned "gender and racial ideology."

"Parents have a fundamental right to direct the moral and religious education of their children," she wrote in the memo. "Schools receiving public funds must ensure compliance with applicable federal protections, including mechanisms for parents to exempt their children from instruction that conflicts with the family's sincerely held religious beliefs, such as content related to sexuality and gender ideology."

The two-page memo also ordered the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division to be alert "to violations of parental rights and First Amendment liberties in educational settings."

Bondi further directed U.S. Attorneys to work with federal, state and local partners to identify and respond to credible threats against parents and violations of their federal rights.