Parents Have a Right to Know

May 20, 2023

Senator Bob Paulson

Parents have a right to know what is happening with their children. That was the reasoning behind SB 2260 which would have codified the fundamental right of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, mental health, and moral or religious training of that parent’s child. What I learned while researching the need for this bill is that there is an agenda to sexualize our children and normalize transgenderism in our schools and libraries across the state, and a lack of transparency afforded to parents.

We have school board policies in some schools in ND that state, “School staff shall not disclose any information that may reveal a student’s transgender status to others, including parents or guardians…”. We have school administration attorneys recommending to a superintendent that they follow the child’s desires concerning a gender transition rather than the desires of the parents. We have males permitted to use female bathrooms in K12 with female students present. We have students having their daily citizenship grade lowered for failure to use another student’s preferred pronouns. We have children in elementary school being given surveys that ask questions about gender identity without parental notification. We have parents paying hundreds of dollars to be able to review their child’s curriculum. I could go on, but space is limited.

To be clear, we have many amazing teachers in our schools across the state. I heard from many who expressed support for and the need for SB 2260. They all ended their contact in a similar manner, “Please don’t use my name…” Fear of cancel culture exists in North Dakota. SB 2260 passed the Senate 40-6, but after an intense lobbying effort by the teacher’s union, school boards association and others, parental rights failed in the House by a vote of 39-51.

We passed HB 1205 which ensures that explicit sexual material is moved from the children’s section to the adult section in our public libraries. However, this law does not apply to public school libraries. SB 2360 passed both chambers, and would have prevented explicit sexual material from being willfully displayed to minors in our public school libraries. However, it was vetoed by the Governor and while the Senate overrode the veto, the House failed to do so.

We have books in our public school libraries which serve the agenda to sexualize our children and normalize transgenderism. They contain sexually explicit material in both text and pictorial form. One has nationally-identified ties to human trafficking. Not one librarian who testified in opposition to HB 1205 or SB 2360 before the Senate Judiciary committee expressed concern for our children’s innocence or safety. Not one librarian testified in support. They were solely concerned that these books remain available to children in our libraries. I found that to be very sad and frustrating.

The American Library Association (ALA) is an organization which recommends books for libraries to carry and is used by our librarians in North Dakota. As displayed on ALA’s web site, the books they promote are full of leftist propaganda and sexually explicit content. The ALA has a significant influence on school libraries across the country, and it should concern us all that their president is a Marxist. I recommend that parents be engaged in what their children are exposed to at our state funded schools and libraries if they are concerned with maintaining their children’s innocence and safety.

Submitted in the Minot Daily News.