The Heritage Foundation is working with Heritage Action for America to protect parents' rights, fight back against dangerous left-wing agendas infiltrating schools, and partner with parents and allies at the state and local level to advance much-needed education reforms.
Heritage Action, a conservative grassroots organization with two million grassroots activists, hosted its first Save Our Schools Parental Rights Symposium on June 23in Dana Point, California. The event highlighted how Heritage Action is working alongside parents to protect their rights over their children's education. Over 100 concerned parents plus education advocates, grassroots leaders, and Heritage Action staff came together to fight back against the dangerous agendas infiltrating public schools.
Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson spoke about the critical purpose of the event:
“The education system has long been a tool for the far left to indoctrinate children with their radical political agenda. Now, as school boards, teachers unions, and elected officials try to take parents out of their children’s education and force woke curriculum on our children, parents need to know how to most effectively fight back.
“These Parental Rights Symposiums are just one part of Heritage Action’s efforts to restore parents’ rights and save our schools. Through training parents on how to run for school board, speak up at local meetings, advocate for school choice policy, and stay involved with their children’s curriculum, our grassroots activists will have the tools necessary to advance much needed education reforms.”
The event opened with a panel discussion featuring Jonathan Butcher, Will Skillman Fellow in Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, and Merianne Jensen, a concerned mother and education advocate. The Heritage Foundation has been providing recommendations for much-needed education reforms at the state and federal levels, and the panel focused on how allies at the state and local level can work to advance those reforms.
The event also included training sessions on how to run for your local school board, how to help maintain election integrity in the face of efforts to change election laws to make it easier to commit fraud, and how to stay engaged in your child's education and hold schools accountable.
Following the training sessions, guests were given the opportunity to talk with the speakers and other attendees and also hear from Kari Lake, former Fox Anchor and education grassroots leader. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares gave the keynote speech over dinner, stressing the importance of parental involvement in education. Jonathan Isaac, professional basketball player and author of Why I Stand, closed by sharing his inspiring thoughts on why it’s so important to stand up for what you believe in, especially when standing up for those who can’t necessarily stand up for themselves.
In August, Heritage Action will hold a second Parental Rights Symposium in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In addition to these symposiums and lobbying efforts for several education bills in states across the country, Heritage Action also launched SaveOurSchools.com, a one-stop shop of resources for parents interested in engaging with their children’s school system.
