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hosting cities for 2026 world cup? >> i love these teams appeared s. you have a lot of folks. thank you for having us and putting up with the spiri now us. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us to talk about the effort, the director of the education freedom center at the independent women's forum. first on the independent women's forum, how long have you been around and what is your mission? guest: we celebrate our 30th anniversary last year. it is a conservative leaning

organization that addresses all policy issues, all issues are women's issues, including taxes, the economy, energy, a wide array of issues. host: what is education freedom mean? guest: we generally are referring to policies that empower parents, that are student focused that ensure that one possible, funding follows the child to the school that best meets their needs. host: republicans are introducing this parents bill of rights, what will he do? guest: hr five is a big signature piece of legislation for the republicans in the house of representatives. that -- was --pixelation

was focused on parental rights. they think pam should have access to budget in violent incidents. of the bill has expanded since it went through the committee. we can talk about that. host: why is it needed? guest: there has been a awakening among parents and community members. schools aren't as good as they thought and aren't meeting the needs of parents. students aren't responsive to appearance expressions of concern. i believe the legislators here in congress, state houses around the country are responding to the reckoning and realization that something is happening with our school systems. they are not doing our job and what works with parents.

that needed to be addressed. host: when did this change happen? guest: our schools, there has always been concerns in our school. i'm sure you have many guests representing the 1983 report. many decades ago our country was acknowledging that we were not doing a good job educating. educating our students. there is a consent that everything was hitting a medireoint in our nations education system. we have a g -- -- also on the nation's report card. we have a nuer of issues with school districts not wanting to be responsive. host: here are some of the

provisions for our viewers. school districts to have to publicly post correctly information. states must provide the coupling -- public a copy of any revisions. parents have a say when schools develop or update student privacy policies. parents must consent before any medical exam, mental health or substance abuse screening. some of the reaction on capitol hill to republicans introducing this bill. this is jeffries commenting on the parents bill of rights. >> we want to make sure that our children can learn reading, writing, arithmetic, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, in education in the arts and music.

have a richard is to play sports and to develop into well-rounded children who can then become well-rounded adults. as our position. we believe that position is consistent with what the parent of america want. not right wing propaganda and culture wars forced down the throats of the american people because of an extreme magner republican agenda. host: right wing propaganda and culture. guest: i am not sure why he chose to use the language. i spoke before the committee and was referred as an extremist. i expressed concern about the crisis. i expressed concerns about

parents voices not being heard for more funding, but refusing to provide the transparency, such as access to curriculum. information about students records. i view them as not -- positions. host: we're talking about the parents wrightsville. if you want to join the conversation, the education freedom director you can do so on the phone lines as usual split by political party. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000 . independents, (202) 748-8002.

guest: a normal hearing held at the start of the congress. i was brought onto address k-12 education issues. there are other issues to talk about community college in the workforce and university higher education issues. there was also a witness invited by the democrats who is amazing and i could talk about all of the issues. host: do you think it has gotten better or worse? guest: the right has expanded and the provisions increased. a huge concern that parents have right now is the professional development materials that are

used. let's understand why these teachers are choosing these particular books and lesson plans. a lot of it is because it is the way they have been trained up through the education programs and certification process. it is in the professional development. access to that information was added. the requirement that parents should be notified if children are not leading up to a proficient level by the end of third grade. it addresses that a lot of young children were shut out of schools through the pandemic and therefore did not learn how to read it. if they do not know how to read by third grade, they are in trouble. i think there is a good provision and a excellent condition.

there were two provisions that had to do with gender transition . one of them was the requirement that parents be notified if school district staff have changed their child's name, pronouns or what they referred to as gender markers. host: calls for you this morning. let's get to that. independent. caller: morning. i think the whole gender pronoun thing is frankly whichever way people feel about that issue, it is a massive waste of the public airwaves. regards to committee colleges and other universities, this country is being conquered and enslaved in student loan debt. if you look at some of the red states.

i would like to see our nations politics and focus on what is important rather than this nonsense spectacle that we see talking about the social issues. meanwhile, the citizens are being --. guest: i address k-12 issues in the work that i do. i have to be very clear and frank that this is absolutely a crisis in our k-12 schools. over 70 different gender identities. they are encouraged through

lesson plans, novels, what is called a gsa clubs to pick their identity and to change their name and pronouns and in many cases change the restrooms and locker rooms and overnight accommodations that they have received. we have examples of this that could be found on our website. we have a identity crisis workshop that features the appearance telling the story -- parents telling the story. telling the story of how their child was brought into this world within their school environment and pressured down this path, that it is the dangerous path because it does not just to name changes in accommodations, it leads to medical transitions which has high risks and long-term consequences for young people. the director of the education freedom center there. this is kim in california.

good morning. . caller: one of the things you are talking about is bigotry to me. i live in a conservative town in california. times have changed. we do not need to have it taught. the kids are talking about it. i am proud of them that they understand that this is the time , especially as women should be able to call ourselves whatever we want and use whatever pronouns all kinds. absolutely.

he won also for all of these bills to be able to talk about, not able to be erased. you are such a big it. host: do you want a chance to respond? host: it is very important to listen to the voices in the stories. guest: young people who have then being pushed down this path to hide their identity from their parents. the pairs are told over and over various propaganda. if you do not affirm your child's new gender identity, the child will kill themselves. a lot of this around the suicide met. the parents are told -- kids are told your parents will kick you out. it drives a dangerous wedge between emotionally vulnerable children and the parents. we know these emotionally vulnerable teacher named so

lid loving relationships with their parents. they do not know the child's whole story. they are not responsible for the upbringing and care of the child. we do not meet the school staff members driving a wedge between parents and children, hiding information, important information from parents and putting the children in danger. host: on c-span two, the press conference that speaker mccarthy is holding in orlando florida -- orlando, florida just got underway. he will be taking questions from reporters. if you want to watch that from a hop over to c-span2. fax or phone calls. this is david in

massachusetts. good morning. caller: i am a gay person. when it comes to selecting what sex you are and gender, that had been selected when you were born. i do nothing, especially this should even be discussed. it should be discussed at home. it should be parents right to have the children talk by the, not by the school. the school should be teaching reading, writing, arithmetic. we are too busy doing all of this stuff out there and they are too young to handle it. kudos to this woman here for sticking up for parents. it should be parents rights, not the federal governments, not the schools.

caller: i think the caller made a important point. the schools need to teach reading. a lot of this is a distraction from the fact that they aren't doing their jobs. when the nation's report card -- the latest escorts came out in 2022. there was a alarming drop. the largest drop. games have been made over decades completely erased. when you look at math scores for eighth graders, a quarter of them are proficient at not. the schools need to be doing their jobs. rather than that, some of these young activists teachers are hyper focused on these issues. we need to take them out of the issues, classrooms and make sure they are focused on teaching the

course subjects. host: who is and who is not doing their jobs? this is a tweet from a viewer. parents already have a slew of rights, they choose not to exercise them and push for the state to do their jobs for them. that is all this bill is. host: parents do have rights that are codified in state law. guest: delay maybe about 11 or so states we have transparency bills, -- in maybe 11 or so states we have transparency bills. we have a education rights or private rights. the school districts, school staff are misrepresenting.

i can't tell you the information about your child's student record appeared something that is important -- yes, there's this bill on the floor up with our existing federal laws and parental rights provisions and we need to make sure parents are aware of those. host: the states that have state laws and parental bills come but they generally do better on test scores than states that do not perform them? guest: florida is one of those that has a parent's bill of rights and education bill that passed and goes by another name, that passed last year. florida is faring well compared to other states when you look at those new scores. host: on the state efforts, does it go back a year?

what was one of the first days? guest: i am actually a school choice advocate historically. i like many parents in the last few years, i would recommend people go to a organization that has a map and a list of the parental right permissions in place as well as information about bills. host: what will you say is the state of the school choice right now? guest: we have over 30 states with school choice programs that provide options like scholarships and education savings accounts to students. arizona expanded their education savings account program so that all 1.1 million students can participate.

this year already utah, iowa, arkansas have passed near universal education savings account programs. great momentum happening. great foundation already billed. -- built. host: rich in hickory hill's. republican. caller: i am a grandfather. my concerns about my grandsons education. it seems like the disconnect between the education that they should be getting into the social political agenda, that is overshadowing what their core knowledge skills should be the

priority. it seems to me that you know, some kind of a distraction from that. is that what is happening? guest: you are not alone in the assessment. the majority of people in the country agree with you that a lot of these issues focused on gender and race. cultural issues are a distraction from what should be happening at school, which is academic obstruction. you are not alone. there should be a privatization of academics. children should be in school and learning from teachers who are committed to addressing their needs. if they are not addressing the needs, i -- parents should have the option to send them

elsewhere. host: you said something about florida. let me tell you about florida. it is so pitiful. they cannot get qualified teachers. they're having to take ex military to teach the kids. that is ridiculous. you guys have run all of the teachers off.