Family matters
Navigating parental rights within the public school system.
Parents are the first educators of their children. The moment a child enters the world, that education begins. In Latin, the word “educate” comes from ex, meaning “out of” and ducere, meaning “to draw or to lead.” Parents have the responsibility to help draw the best out of their children and lead them to what is true, good, and beautiful.
It’s a grave responsibility that does not get surrendered at the schoolhouse door. In fact, Minnesota laws empower parents to play an active and involved role in their child’s learning experience.
Given the focused attention on the role of parents in schools, arming parents with information about ways they can get involved in their child’s education — and the importance of doing so — means more accountability and transparency for the state’s K-12 public school system.
These valuable advocacy tools, protected by both federal and state law, can be exercised in partnership with teachers and school administrators to make sure each child is supported and successful. Education, after all, is a collaborative effort between school leaders, teachers, and parents, and fostering this spirit of collaboration begins with creating and maintaining accountability and transparency.
But not all parents know how to navigate these rights, let alone that they exist, which is why American Experiment recently launched the Minnesota Parent Toolkit — a valuable resource for parents, grandparents, and community members to learn about their unique position to positively impact education. Readers can find it at MinnesotaParentToolkit.com.
Run for school board
Local school boards are responsible for ensuring that public schools provide high-quality, effective instruction. Either choosing to run or supporting someone within the community in his or her school board bid is one way to influence a school system for greater accountability. To qualify for election to a local school board, a person must be at least 21 years old, an eligible voter, a district resident for at least 30 days, and not a convicted sex offender.
The Minnesota Parents Alliance (MPA) is a 501(c)(4) organization providing information and support to achievement-focused school board candidates who are committed to restoring excellence to public education through transparency, accountability, and higher standards in local governance, policy, and curriculum. Well-informed and engaged parents are key to delivering the lasting changes schools and students desperately need. MPA hosts campaign school events to provide guidance, networking, and support to candidates championing higher standards and accountability in their district. The parent-led, parent-driven organization also publishes Minnesota’s only voter guide for achievement-focused, parent-centered school board candidates.
As a body elected to represent district residents and govern and manage public schools, school boards have many responsibilities — from creating and implementing policies and setting standards for student performance to hiring and dismissing staff, approving the annual budget, and monitoring expenditures. School boards also oversee and manage curriculum development and implementation.
Review curricula
Curriculum is meant to enhance teaching and learning outcomes, so using rigorous, well-thought-out, and challenging instructional resources is essential. Minnesota law gives parents and guardians the right to review curricula used in their students’ schools, adding a layer of transparency and accountability to what is taught in the classroom.
Under Minnesota Statute 120B.20 “Parental Curriculum Review,” school districts must have a procedure in place for a parent to review the content of the instructional materials provided to their child and, if the parent objects to the content, make reasonable arrangements with school personnel for alternative instruction.
Further, if the alternative instruction offered by the school board does not meet the concerns of the parent, that parent may provide alternative instruction. No repercussions or academic penalties can be imposed on the student for arranging alternative instruction.
Federal law also grants parents and guardians inspection rights of instructional materials. Under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), parents and guardians can “inspect, upon request, instructional material, excluding academic tests or academic assessments, used by a local education agency as part of the educational curriculum for a student,” according to the U.S. Department of Education Student Privacy Policy Office. This applies to any school that receives federal funding.
Serve on a district advisory committee
Minnesota Statute 120B.11 requires school boards to establish an advisory committee to “ensure active community participation in all phases of planning and improving instruction and curriculum affecting state and district academic standards.” The district advisory committee must recommend to the school board rigorous academic standards, student achievement goals and measures, district assessments, and program evaluations, to name a few. Whenever possible, parents and other community residents must comprise at least two-thirds of advisory committee members. Parents and community residents should ask their school board for more information on serving in this capacity.
Opt out of surveys
The PPRA affords students and parents certain rights regarding participation in a survey, analysis, or evaluation. Under PPRA, school districts must get parental consent when a required survey, analysis, or examination administered as part of an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education asks questions about:
1. Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student’s parent;
2. Mental or psychological challenges of the student or student’s family;
3. Sexual behavior or attitudes;
4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior;
5. Critical appraisals of people with whom respondents have close family relationships;
6. Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as with lawyers, physicians, or ministers;
7. Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parent;
8. Income level, other than as required by law to determine program eligibility.
These eight areas are considered protected information, and if a survey that gathers this information is required as part of a U.S. Department of Education applicable program, schools are required by federal law to inform parents and obtain their prior written consent for their child to participate — or, put differently, parents opt their student in to take the survey.
If a protected information survey is optional as part of a U.S. Department of Education sponsored program, the school would still need to provide notice, but parental consent is not needed before the child participates. Instead, parents opt their student out of the survey.
PPRA states that schools need to provide notification to parents at least once a year and come up with a set of standard policies to follow to notify parents about the surveys and obtain consent when needed. Typically, the notice comes at the beginning of the year.
Additionally, PPRA gives parents the right to inspect, upon request, any instructional materials (including teacher’s manuals, films, or supplemental materials, excluding assessments or tests) that will be used with the survey or evaluation from a U.S. Department of Education sponsored program. The parent must request this, as the school district doesn’t have to provide copies without being asked first.
According to Parents Defending Education, parents do have the right under PPRA to opt their student out of social and emotional surveys, like those conducted by Panorama Education.
Parents should ask their principals about the opt-out process for their district and what opt-out forms need to be signed and turned in.
Request reconsideration of materials
School districts must have a policy in place for reconsideration of textbooks, instructional materials, and library materials, including forms for formal objections and who to present the reconsideration requests to. Under Minnesota Statute 124D.991, a school library or school library media center must have a collection development plan that includes but is not limited to materials selection and deselection and a challenged materials procedure. These policies are typically numbered in the 600 range and can be found on a school district’s website.
Request public data
According to Chapter 13 of Minnesota Statutes, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act gives everyone the right to inspect public data. Public data include all the data a school district keeps unless there is a state or federal law that classifies the data in some other way. Requests for public data can include literature and curriculum materials, school policies, and other media or communication from or through political or advocacy groups, to name a few. To request copies of data from a school district, requests must be in writing and reference that the request is being submitted under Chapter 13 of state law. The school district is not required to respond to or answer questions that are not requests for data.
For example: “Why did the school board decide to end its gifted and talented program?” This is a question about data that does not require a response under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Instead, this should be framed as: “I am requesting access to all data between the dates of Jan. 1-June 30, 2024 on the decision to end the district’s gifted and talented program.” This statement request for data would require a response.
Data requests should describe the requested data as specifically as possible. Response time from the district depends on the data requested, staff members available to respond to the request, and how many other data requests the district is processing. The district is legally required to fulfill a data request within a “reasonable amount of time.” According to an opinion of the Minnesota Commissioner of Administration, if your request is specific enough, a reasonable amount of time is between 13 to 35 days. If the data request is about the person submitting the request, a response must be immediate or within 10 business days. Most school districts have a data practices compliance official (“Responsible Authority”) to submit the request to. A search for “data request” on a district website should locate submission steps.
Educator response
Education should be about partnerships. Parents should be encouraged to come alongside teachers, knowing they are the experts on their child and the teacher is tasked with being the expert on classroom learning. Educators should be encouraged to treat parents as equal partners — value their concerns, respect their right to see what’s being taught, and keep them informed on what is happening in school.
Despite tensions over the parent-school relationship in recent years, parent involvement is still supported by teachers and school leaders.
A majority (63 percent) of more than 1,300 polled district leaders, school leaders, and teachers believe that parents should be involved in curriculum and materials selection in their district or school, according to a national survey conducted in November 2021 by the EdWeek Research Center. And 54 percent support the idea of letting parents opt their children out of classes, curricula, or units. But only around a third of respondents said that parents are actually involved in selecting curriculum and materials in their district. A large part of that could be parents not knowing the legal rights they have in their child’s educational setting.
The mission statement of public education in Minnesota, as written in law (Statute 120A.03), reads in part:
The mission of public education in Minnesota, a system for lifelong learning, is to ensure individual academic achievement, an informed citizenry, and a highly productive work force. This system focuses on the learner, promotes and values diversity, provides participatory decision making, ensures accountability, models democratic principles, creates and sustains a clime for change, provides personalized learning environments, encourages learners to reach their maximum potential, and integrates and coordinates human services for learners. The public schools of this state shall serve the needs of the students by cooperating with the students’ parents and legal guardians to develop the students’ intellectual capabilities and lifework skills in a safe and positive environment. [Emphasis added]
Minnesota state and federal laws support parents actively participating in their child’s education. Parents have rights. Exercising those rights and being closely involved are crucial steps in the strive to make education better, not just for a parent’s child but for the civic education of our communities and future generations. Schools are both literally and symbolically where the future is shaped. Armed with information about these valuable advocacy tools, efforts to improve education can start right here and right now.