Parental Consent Before Schools Change Child's Gender

The Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act addresses something the American Council believes is a matter of basic principle: parents have the right and the responsibility to be informed participants in decisions affecting their children. HB2616 makes that principle enforceable by conditioning receipt of Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds on public schools obtaining parental consent before changing a covered student's gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form, or before changing a covered student's sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.

The bill's coverage is focused and deliberate. A "covered student" is defined as a minor who is an elementary school student or a student in the middle grades. This means the consent requirement applies precisely where parental involvement is most critical: the youngest students, who by any reasonable standard are least equipped to navigate consequential institutional decisions without their parents' knowledge and agreement.

HB2616 also amends ESEA Section 8526 to prohibit the use of ESEA funds to teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology, as defined in Executive Order 14168. Federal education dollars were never intended to be a vehicle for ideological instruction that large portions of American families find contrary to their deeply held convictions. This provision ensures that taxpayer funds are directed toward academic achievement, not advocacy.

The American Council holds that the family is the foundational institution of a healthy society, and that government-funded institutions must not work around parents to reshape how young children understand themselves. This bill restores a layer of accountability that should never have been absent. We urge every constituent and every legislator to support its passage.