In 2023, Congresswoman Becca Balint, alongside Senators Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders, voted to block two significant pieces of legislation: H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act, and H.R. 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Though passed in the House, these bills were effectively stopped in the Senate by Democrats, including Vermontโs representatives. This decision raises fundamental questions about the shifting balance of power between parents and the state in public education and whether schools are now assuming too much control over childrenโs lives without adequate parental involvement.
What H.R. 5 and H.R. 734 Were Designed to Do
- H.R. 5 โ The Parents Bill of Rights Act
H.R. 5 was intended to restore parental authority in public schools by requiring schools to:- Provide parents access to instructional materials, lesson plans, and curricula. Obtain parental consent for discussions involving sensitive issues, such as gender identity. Allow parents the option to remove their children from lessons they found inappropriate. Hold regular meetings to increase parental involvement in decision-making.
- H.R. 734 โ The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act
H.R. 734 sought to ensure fairness in womenโs sports by prohibiting transgender women (biological males) from competing in female sports teams at federally funded schools. It aimed to preserve the integrity of Title IX, which was originally created to prevent sex-based discrimination in sports.
Alleged Concerns Raised by Balint, Sanders, and Welch
Becca Balint, Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders voted against these bills, expressing alleged concerns about the potential harms to LGBTQ+ youth and raising fears of censorship and book banning. However, these claims were based on speculative interpretations of what the bills could lead to, as neither bill contained explicit provisions related to banning books or censorshipโ (House Rules Committeeโ)(Vermont Business Magazine).
Balintโs rhetoric about H.R. 5 included claims that it “promotes censorship” and could lead to book banning, though the actual text of the bill did not support such claims. These alleged concerns can be better understood as part of the broader strategy discussed in FYIVT’S article Lose the Hysterics, where politicians use inflammatory rhetoric to distract from what a bill is actually intended to do, stoking public fear to shape opinion.
Government Overreach in Education?
At its core, H.R. 5 sought to address a fundamental issue: the growing role of government-mandated, taxpayer-funded schools in making decisions that traditionally belonged to parents. In Vermont, public school attendance is mandatory by law unless parents opt to homeschool. This means parents are compelled to send their children into a system that, increasingly, excludes them from key decisions about their childโs upbringing, particularly on sensitive topics like gender identity.
Under Vermont’s existing policies, schools can make decisions about a student’s gender identityโincluding using a different name and pronounsโwithout informing the parents unless the student consents (Vermont’s 2017 Guidanceโ(Vermont Agency of Educationโ)(TIMCAST). For many parents, this growing role of schools in their childrenโs lives is an overreach by the state. Schools, originally intended to be educators, are increasingly assuming the role of moral guides, often without parental input.
A Growing Concern for Parents
The blocking of H.R. 5 by Balint, Sanders, and Welch leaves many parents feeling sidelined in their children’s education. While H.R. 5 sought to reestablish parental authority in a taxpayer-funded system, its defeat means that schools continue to hold significant power in making personal decisions for students, often without parental involvement. Parents are legally mandated to send their children to these schools, but they are often kept out of critical discussions that affect their childโs personal development.
The key question is: Should the government, through its public school system, have more authority over a childโs personal development than the parents?
Conclusion
The votes by Becca Balint, Bernie Sanders, and Peter Welch to block H.R. 5 and H.R. 734 reflect a broader trend in which public schools, supported by state and federal policies, increasingly take control over important aspects of childrenโs lives. While the stated objections to H.R. 5 centered on speculative concerns, the text of the bill did not support claims of censorship or book banning.
This pattern of using inflammatory rhetoric to distract from the bill’s true intent is discussed in the Lose the Hysterics article, where political figures deploy scare tactics to sway public opinion. The debate over parental rights versus state control will likely continue to escalate, especially in states like Vermont, where parents are legally required to send their children to school yet are increasingly excluded from the decision-making process that affects their children’s personal and moral development, and lives.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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