Letter to the Editor: California oversteps its authority

Dear Editor:

Once again, Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco and the Democrats in Sacramento have undermined parental authority and have given more power to the state government to decide the fate of our children.

Assembly Bill 1955 was recently passed by both the Democrat controlled State Assembly and Senate and signed by Governor Newsom. This bill creates a government imposed wall of secrecy between parents and their children and places teachers and school administrators in the awkward position of hiding vital information from parents. Specifically, it prohibits school boards and districts from enacting policies that would require schools to notify parents if their child is requesting that fellow students and teachers refer to them by a different name or gender-oriented pronoun. So if your daughter, regardless of age, is asking students and teachers to refer to her as a “him” and call her by a boy’s name while at school, teachers and school staff will no longer be required to inform parents of these changes. If children are confused and struggling with gender identification issues, shouldn’t parents be the first to know?

The Supreme Court has ruled that parents have the ultimate authority over their children, yet the California Legislature and governor seem to think that they can continue to undermine the parent-child relationship and ignore the Supreme Court. School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents have the constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school. Parents are the children’s legal guardians, not Assemblymember Pacheco, State Superintendent Tony Thurman or Governor Newsom. It seems odd that many of the politicians that helped pass this bill either don’t have school-aged children or don’t have children at all.

Ms. Pacheco, instead of undermining parental authority and creating distrust between parents and teachers, should focus on making the lives of her constituents easier by reducing inflation, cutting taxes and helping to create good paying jobs. In case she hasn’t noticed, it’s becoming harder and harder to put gas in our gas tanks, pay for groceries and take our families out for an occasional meal.

Ron Boren
Downey