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	The following exerpted article, by Barry W. Lynn, first appeared
in the Feb. 1996 issue of _Church & State_.  The "Parental Rights
Amendment" is on the Nov. 5 Colorado State ballot as "Amendment 17."  The
Colorado version would add to the state constitution the inalienable right
"of parents to direct and control the upbringing, education, values and
discipline of their children."  A Virginia-based group, "Of The People," 
with ties to the Christian Coalition, and Focus On The Family, has 
supplied nearly 100% of the funding for Colorado's Amendment 17 ballot 
initiative.  They have stated that Colorado is a test case.  If the 
so-called "Parental Rights"/Amendment 17 passes, Of The People plans to 
introduce similar ballot initiatives in and additional 27 states. -cd
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	      	WHAT'S WRONG WITH 'PARENTAL RIGHTS?'

	Proponents of something called the "Parental Rights Amendment" 
are trying to amend all state constitutions and eventually the [US] 
federal constitution.
	The proposed amendment states: "The right of parents to direct 
the upbringing and education of their children shall not be infringed."
	...What's wrong with this amendment?  On first reading, it 
certainly sounds innocuous.  As a parent, I want my rights... Why the 
fuss, then?
	The Religious Right insists that public school officials have 
some nefarious scheme for subverting "parental rights," primarily by 
choosing curriculum and other material that are at odds with their moral 
values.  The bottom line of the Parental Rights Amendment is to give 
parents active in Religious Right groups a type of constitutional "trump 
care" to override any decision public schools make that they don't like.
	How would this work in practice?  The Massachusetts legislature 
gave us one example two years ago when it considered a "parental rights" 
bill that required two weeks' written notice to parents whenever the 
children were to be involved in any teaching or activity deemed 
"controversial."  These were not just the hot button topics of 
homosexuality and abortion, but everything from discussions of values to 
death and marriage.  Worse, if parents did not affirmatively "opt in" 
every time - actually filling out a form noting it would be all right for 
their children to be exposed to these topics - their children were barred 
from participation.
	Can you imagine the chaos this would spawn, as teachers abandoned 
PTA meetings and course planning to pursue "wayward" parents who hadn't 
even received the permission slip?  (How many parents stumble on last 
month's homework, lunch news, "important notices," - and occasional 
sandwiches - while cleaning out their children's backpacks?)  What would 
actually happen, of course, would be that many teachers would steer clear 
of these subjects so that they wouldn't have to go through the burdensome 
process.  (By the way, how does on teach history or literature without 
discussion of values or death?).
	I believe that is precisely what the supporters of "parental 
rights" have in mind.  They want to parent their kids and everybody 
else's.  By objecting to material, they hope they will cause fewer 
teachers to even try to deal with controversy.  You can imagine schools 
where every parent objects to some piece of a textbook, so that all that 
remains are books with blank pages.
	...Twenty states, from Georgia to Colorado, can expect 
legislative battles over the "Parental Rights Amendment" in the coming 
year.  Nobody wants to take away the primary right or responsibility for 
parenting from parents.  On the other hand, we have to have so degree of 
faith in the quality of work that professional educators do.  The truth 
is, as parents we often fail to keep up on the latest information on 
everything from geology to (gasp) human sexuality.  We don't need our 
ignorance, or that of our neighbors, to have an undue influence on the 
course of public education.
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	       COLORADANS: VOTE 'NO' ON AMENDMENT 17!