The current "notification" law has been a terrible failure. It is cumbersome, vague, not fully inclusive, and unenforceable. See text of new law and current law. It was supposed to protect parents and children from graphic sexuality and homosexuality in the schools, but simply hasn't worked.

(1) The current law is very narrow in scope. It only includes "curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education and human sexuality issues." That means only dedicated "sex-ed" classes. It does not cover assemblies, speeches, workshops, "gay clubs" after-school sessions, and "homosexual awareness" units and "teachable moments" in other academic classes. Schools use these extensively to get around the law.

(2) It forces parents to "opt out" their children. Parents often have to go through a cumbersome bureaucratic process and fill out forms to remove their kids from the class. This can be intimidating and confusing. And schools often do not have an alternative place for the children to go, so they are often purposefully embarrassed and/or bored by having to sit in the library or other place.

(3) The notification process is undefined, and often flimsy. Parents are rarely fully informed and are purposely kept in the dark on particularly sensitive subjects. Sometimes these "notices" are just handed to kids to put in their backpacks, or even as a notice somewhere in the school newspaper. Often their descriptions are just superficial fluff or jargon that parents do not understand. For example, one high school sent a notice describing a "GLBT" event, without mentioning that it actually stands for "Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender."

(4) Many school districts simply ignore the law. We have first-hand accounts of school districts simply ignoring the law. When pressed by parents, they'll often say they "forgot" or there was a "glitch" in getting the notifications out.

(5) The Dept. of Education does not enforce the law. According to the current law, "The department of education shall promulgate regulations for adjudicatory proceedings to resolve any and all disputes arising under this section." Over and over, parents have appealed to the Department to enforce the law. The Department has put together a "dispute process" that is cumbersome (many forms, hearings, etc.) and long (it can take over a year). We do not know of a single instance where it has worked at all. This is further complicated by the fact that the Dept. of Education is often the one putting many of these programs into the school in the first place!

The New Proposed Law
The new proposed law goes a long way toward solving these problems. It does what should have been done in the first place:

(1) The proposed law is opt-in instead of opt-out. That is, it makes these activities an elective -- similar to band, French, shop, etc. Parents can either sign their children in, or ignore it. That way, everybody is happy. So if schools feel the need to offer a "gay awareness" class, then parents who want that for their kids can sign them in and those who don't aren't bothered and are left alone.

(2) It includes all school sanctioned programs or activities. It includes assemblies, forums, workshops, class units, etc. "which primarily involve human sexuality education, human sexuality issues, or sexual orientation issues." It also includes the insidious "gay-straight alliance" clubs which often meet after school, without parents' knowledge or consent, and are led by unsupervised homosexual activists.

(3) It allows teachers the same rights. Many teachers have complained bitterly about having to take part in activities that are immoral, psychologically destructive, and in some cases contained religious bigotry.

(4) It removes the Dept. of Education from the process. The Dept. of Education has essentially stonewalled any attempts by parents to get it to do its job in enforcing the current law. And in fact, it funds many of the homosexual programs that parents particularly object to.

The proposed law offers a fair and equitable solution. If some parents actually want this for their children, they can do it. If others don't, they can ignore it -- just like other elective courses of study.

Opponents of this bill - and of other parent rights:
Early on, news that this new bill would be filed raised the ire of Massachusetts-area homosexual activists. At a recent GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network) teachers conference held at Tufts in March, notices were passed out to all the attendees and participants "warning" them about this bill, and strongly encouraging them to call their legislators.

In the past, when bills of this nature have had public hearings, vocal opponents have included prominent left-wing Representatives along with representatives from the Massachusetts Teachers Union, Planned Parenthood, and AIDS Action Committee were present to give testimony. Even the Superintendent of Schools of Newton, MA (who has cooperated with GLSEN in the past), once came to testify. Employees of the Department of Education and other groups have worked in the background to coordinate lobbying efforts.

The major forces against giving these rights to parents are (1) the homosexual activists and (2) the sex-ed industry, and also the education establishment & teachers union. But other left-wing activist groups are, sadly, also involved.

Some arguments the opponents are using against the bill:
Some of the arguments they use are quite offensive, and others are just plain silly. Some of the major ones are:

(1) "It's too hard and too expensive to make these programs electives." That is such baloney. The schools actually go to great lengths and expense NOT to make them electives -- to spread them out. Somehow, they can make all the other things electives without any problem.

2) "Parents aren't doing their jobs, so 'we' have to do them." This is extremely offensive. Just who are 'they' to make that decision for parents? What right do 'they' have to claim to know what's best for OUR children? As much as it irks our education establishment, we parents are the final authority on the moral upbringing of our children -- even if they don't like it.

(3) "We must do this to make our schools safe!" This is a massive lie. Several years ago the homosexual activist community stumbled upon the tactic of using "school safety" and "tolerance" as a psychological lever to teach the acceptance of behaviors that almost all parents found offensive, distasteful and immoral. Through rhetoric and intimidation they have honed this technique very effectively. They use false statistics and skewed "surveys" to "prove" their points. But it is first and foremost a political tactic. Parents must not allow themselves to be taken in by this.

(4) "Kids must go to GSAs for support. If parents knew their kids were going, they wouldn't allow it."

Of course they wouldn't. GSAs ("Gay-Straight Alliance clubs") are homosexual-led clubs that meet after school. They go to great lengths to attract any kid who "doesn't feel right." They are purposefully secretive; kids are told not to tell their parents what goes on. The activists who run them have no legitimate medical or psychological credentials. Some of the activities we've seen include showing movies of two teenage boys having a sexual love affair, and and encouraging kids to go downtown to gay dances. The horror stories go on and on. By the way, this is funded by your tax dollars, thanks to your Governor.

The truth is...they know that if parents are given an actual choice, they would have their children spend their time with legitimate, wholesome activities, instead of that destructive nonsense.

Source From: http://www.parentsrightscoalition.org/NewPRbill.htm

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