On the Woke Miseducation of Mommy-Maryland's Youth

William J. Haun, "While Trust in Public Schools is Crumbling, Montgomery County Has an Opportunity to Lead"

Americans want more out of public education. According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of all Americans (51%) say K-12 education is on the wrong track. The biggest reasons? Over two-thirds (69%) say it’s because “core academic subjects, like reading, math, science, and social studies” are being neglected, while more than half (54%) say “[t]eachers [are] bringing their personal and political and social views into the classroom.” These results suggest that schools should be working to rebuild trust with parents. Yet one of the nation’s largest school districts is doing the opposite. In Montgomery County, Maryland, the school board abruptly banned opt-outs and even parental notification for storybooks pushing one-sided gender ideology. Fortunately, a group of religious parents recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore their rights. The Justices will vote on whether to hear their case this week.

In 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education introduced a slate of new “inclusivity” books for students in pre-K through fifth grade. Rather than teaching kids about respect and kindness, the books promote topics like pride parades, gender transitions, and pronoun preferences. One book, Pride Puppy, invites three and four-year-olds to search for images including “underwear,” the “intersex flag,” a “drag queen,” “leather,” and a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker. Another book, Intersection Allies, encourages children to ponder what it means to be “transgender” or “non-binary” and asks “[w]hat pronouns fit you?” Meanwhile, teachers are instructed to tell students that doctors only “guess” a baby’s sex at birth.

The school board promised parents that they would be notified and could opt their children out when the storybooks were read. That policy was consistent with Maryland law and is standard practice in 47 states, where parents can excuse their children from lessons on human sexuality. For decades, Montgomery County respected this longstanding consensus. In fact, the County—the nation’s most religiously diverse—provided even broader accommodations through its Religious Diversity Guidelines, allowing parents to opt their children out of any classroom discussion or activity that conflicts with their religious upbringing.

However, the school board recently broke from these consensus positions. In spring of 2023, it announced that it would no longer honor opt-out requests or even provide notice when the storybooks pushing sex and gender ideology were read. Oddly, the board still allowed parents to opt their children out of the sex education unit of their health courses. This excuses fourteen-year-olds from sensitive lessons on sex and gender, while forcing four-year-olds to accept the same instruction.

The decision blindsided parents like Grace Morrison. Grace and her husband are faithful Catholics whose youngest daughter—a child they adopted from Ukraine—has Down Syndrome and ADHD. Because of her disabilities, she is particularly impressionable and struggles to grasp complex ideas. Wanting to protect their daughter’s faith formation and her well-being, the Morrisons asked their daughter’s teacher if she could be excused when the books were read. But the school board’s policy allowed no exceptions. Indeed, the Morrisons were told that they could never know if or when the books would ever be read to their daughter.

Hundreds of other parents have been stonewalled as well. Tamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat, Muslim parents who have religious objections to their children discussing this material, were told it was not possible for their son to receive an alternate assignment. A different principal brushed off another family’s concerns as “fears” and said that she disagreed with opt-outs “unequivocally.” Meanwhile, the Board itself since pulled two of the books (including Pride Puppy) over “concerns about the content.”

With the help of my firm, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a diverse coalition of religious parents filed suit against the school board last year. We argue that the notice and opt-out ban violated the parents’ authority to direct their children’s religious upbringing. That authority is reflected in our nation’s long tradition of allowing parents to decide how and when to introduce their kids to sensitive issues about gender and sexuality—a tradition flouted by the school board’s refusal to even tell parents when their children will be read these books. After two lower federal courts refused to restore the parents’ rights, we recently asked the Supreme Court to take the case. That request is supported by 25 states, leading constitutional law scholars, concerned parents, and a wide range of religious organizations.

When trust in public schools is crumbling, Montgomery County has an opportunity to lead. As the nation’s most religiously diverse county—and with one of the nation’s largest public-school systems—it has a chance to restore the practical accommodations that reflect America’s best traditions. Recovering that longstanding consensus requires schools partnering with parents, not shutting them out of their children’s education.