The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education is discussing the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” tonight at their meeting. The meeting starts with a closed session at 6 and then opens up to the public at 7pm. This meeting is at Lincoln Center, which is located at 750 S. Merritt Mill Road, Chapel Hill.

The agenda for the meeting is here. The Parents’ Bill of Rights is agenda item 6c. This will be the first reading of these policies for the full Board.

What is the Parents’ Bill of Rights?

Frankly, it’s a terrible bill that creates a hostile educational environment, and forces teaches to decide between respecting the civil rights of students and following a discriminatory law that threatens the safety of LGBTQ+ students. It’s commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

What can the Board of Education do?

The board should craft policies and the district should pass regulations that keep all students safe and show equal respect to all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Where can I read more about this?

The 74 million, a non-profit education news website, published a good overview of the bill. Sen. Graig Meyer, who has spoken out against the bill, wrote an excellent op-ed in The Daily Tar Heel.

What can I do?

Please come and make a public comment tonight. If you can’t, you can write to the Board of Education through this email: [email protected]

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Melody Kramer is a Peabody-award winning journalist whose work has appeared on NPR and member stations around the country, as well as in publications ranging from National Geographic to Esquire Magazine....