Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed several education-related bills into law Thursday, including a parental bill of rights, a ban on pornographic books in school libraries, and a prohibition on “divisive concepts” in classroom instruction.
Kemp, a Republican, signed the conservative bills as he wages a high-profile primary election campaign against former Georgia Sen. David Perdue, who received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and has accused the sitting governor of failing to combat widespread voter fraud alleged by the former president during the 2020 elections.
The Thursday signing ceremony took place in Forsyth County, Georgia, and included seven different bills concerning education policy in the state. The bills ran the gamut from an expansion of school choice policies to a ban on teaching “divisive concepts” such as critical race theory in the classroom, a parental bill of rights, a measure eliminating pornographic books from school libraries, an expansion of civics and financial literacy education requirements, new school board transparency requirements, and a requirement that student-athletes compete based on their biological sex rather than their gender identity.
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“Standing up for the God-given potential of each and every child in our schools and protecting the teaching of freedom, liberty, opportunity, and the American dream in the classroom should not be controversial. Making sure parents have the ultimate say in their child’s education should not be controversial,” Kemp said at the signing ceremony.
“We weren’t elected by the people of this state to shy away from doing what some may call controversial, because the bills we are signing into law today are about doing what is right. As long as my family and I have the honor of serving you, we’re going to continue to put our students and our parents first in the great state of Georgia,” he said.
The new laws represent a wish list of conservative education policies in a year that has seen education become a primary culture war issue following widespread grassroots parent activism driven by outrage over pandemic-induced school closures and the incorporation of critical race theory and gender theory into classroom instruction.
The bills drew the ire of state Democrats, who accused their Republican colleagues of placing excessive burdens on teachers to enact election-year legislation.
“It’s bumper sticker legislation of the worst kind. Teachers are going to pay the price,” state Rep. Stacey Evans said, according to WSBTV.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Jessica Anderson, the executive director of the conservative political action committee Heritage Action for America, praised Georgia lawmakers and Kemp for enacting the new legislation.
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“School boards and politicians shouldn’t be deciding what politically motivated curriculum is taught to students while their parents are kept in the dark. The Protect Students First Act, the Parents’ Bill of Rights, and the new expansion of the state’s private school tax credit scholarships in Georgia are prime examples of the education initiatives parents and lawmakers should be taking across the country,” Anderson said.
“The fight for parental rights will affect our children and future generations — we cannot afford to allow public education to turn into the Left’s method of woke indoctrination,” she said.
