Opinion: ‘Governor Ferguson agrees parents have no rights’

Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood criticized Governor Ferguson for signing HB 1296, calling it a direct attack on parental rights in Washington.

Let’s Go Washington founder, Brian Heywood, issued a statement after the governor’s decision to sign HB 1296

Tuesday (May 20), Governor Ferguson sided with Jamie Pedersen who believes “parents have no right to know.” Ferguson has made it clear that he is in lockstep with the out-of-touch Democrats in Olympia who want to exclude parents from decisions about their kids and give the power to government employees instead.

In case you missed it, here’s a quick run-down of all the dangerous provisions HB-1296 puts into law:

Allows schools to delay parents from receiving information about their students and entirely removes access for parents receiving medical and mental health records.
Removes the requirement to notify parents when their child receives medical services from government employees in schools.
Allows government employees 48 hours to notify parents that their child was the victim of a crime or sexual assault in school.
Creates insurmountable bureaucracy to effectively keep parents from being able to sue schools when they act out of compliance with I-2081 which was passed with bipartisan support a year ago.
Grants the OSPI unchecked power to punish schools and strip funding from districts that don’t comply with every whim of Superintendent Chris Reykdal.

Let’s Go Washington founder, Brian Heywood, issued the following statement after the Governor’s decision to sign HB-1296:

“This is a direct assault on parents and a damnation of Governor Ferguson’s claim to be a moderate for Washingtonians. We watched in complete shock as Senator Pedersen said that ‘parents have no rights over their children’ or to know what goes on with them, but clearly he and Governor Ferguson agree. Here at Let’s Go Washington, we know the importance of parental involvement in the healthy decision making between parents and kids. This new law actively keeps parents in the dark and turns that power over to government employees who can decide on their own what information to provide to parents. Imagine your child is the victim of a crime in school, but government employees have up to 48 hours to even notify you that something occurred. Unbelievable.

We have a track record of collecting historic numbers of signatures. Believe me when I say, we will do everything in our power to repeal this horrible gutting of the original Parental Rights Bill. Governor Ferguson and his majority party are on the wrong side of this battle. They have shown Washington State families and parents their true colors and that’s something they can’t take back.”

Let’s Go Washington will continue to fight for the rights of parents even as the state actively works against what is best for parents and children.

Visit letsgowashington.com for more information.