Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to look at Fort Worth Independent School District’s human sexuality curriculum.  In fact, on June 28, 2018, he sent a letter directly to the District’s board president and superintendent requesting a copy of the curriculum.

Referring, in part, to his own opinion, Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. KP-100 (June 28, 2016), issued exactly two years earlier, Paxton stated that school districts “must grant parents access to all written records concerning their child, as well as full information regarding the child’s school activities.”

According to Paxton, the U.S. Constitution protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.  Texas Education Code § 26.004 provides that a “parent is entitled to access to all written records of a school district concerning the parent’s child.”

Education Code § 26.008 also states that a “parent is entitled to full information regarding the school activities of a parent’s child” except in instances of suspected parental abuse or neglect.  Still further, Texas Education Code § 28.004(j) states that a “school district shall make all curriculum materials used in the district’s human sexuality instruction available for reasonable public inspection.”  Paxton also cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(1)(A), which grants parents “the right to inspect and review the education records of their children.”

Paxton requested that the District deliver a complete copy of the human sexuality curriculum to the Office of the Attorney General and grant parents and the public full access to it or “risk legal liability” under the Texas Public Information Act which provides a criminal penalty for refusing to provide access to public records.  Paxton gave the district ten days to comply.

DAWG BONE:   AG WANTS PARENT ACCESS TO RECORDS.

Tomorrow:      Do students have a constitutional right to learn to read?