Across San Diego County, School Board Candidates Make ‘Parental Rights’ Part of Their Platform

Alex Welling, who's running for Cajon Valley school board, says he and other parents who have advocated for their rights in the district have been labeled "Nazis" and "the peanut gallery."

But Welling told inewsource he doesn't see it that way; instead, he's fighting to ensure parents have a say in their child's education and upbringing while at school.

Parents should have the right to contribute to curriculum decisions, opt their child out of certain topics such as sex education and be notified by the school if their child is gender transitioning, Welling said.

"There's this distrust right now between parents and teachers, and I don't think that that's fair," he said. "I think the issue of the trust is between parents and the people making the policy decisions."

He's not alone in his thinking.

From Oceanside to Cajon Valley to Chula Vista, school board candidates across San Diego County are making the fight for and against what's been described as "parental rights" part of their platforms.

The loose term has evolved since it gained ground nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote learning provided parents with further insight into what their kids were learning and disagreement about mandated masks and vaccines ignited. While frustrations over pandemic policies have cooled down locally, debate over what schools teach students about race, gender and sexual orientation have flared up.

Parents and school officials have been at odds over student privacy policies, especially those that exclude parents.

Read the full on inewsource.org.