US groups pushing parental rights in NJ schools

Oppose state as it sues districts over policies

By: Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... National conservative groups - including an Arizona-based think tank - are the latest players to enter the fray in a legal standoff between New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and a handful of school districts over policies that affect transgender students.
..... The Goldwater Institute, a Liberian and conservative public policy think tank based in Arizona, is intervening on behalf of a Marlboro Township mother. Angele Tycenski, arguing that Platlin's lawsuit against the township school district is unconstitutional.
..... The state sued four districts this summer, [2023] on the grounds that they challenged its Law Against Discrimination, which directs schools to treat gender expression as a confidential matter to be shared with parents only with he student's agreement or if there is a risk to the student's health and safety.
..... The districts have tried to implement parental notification policies that the state says could "out" trans and gay kids without their permission. For instance, Platkin sued the Hanover Township Board of Education over a policy it adopted in May [2023] that required teachers and school staff members to inform parents as soon as they learn about any concerning behaviors that could have a "material" impact on a student's well-being.

National groups joining the fight

..... The Pacific Justice Institute, a California-based legal nonprofit, tried to intervene in Platkin's case against Hanover Township, but it was denied permission by a state Superior Court judge ion Morris County. On its website, the institute describes as its mission defending "the religious freedoms, parental rights, and other civil liberties of people who cannot defend themselves." It has been designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
..... The Pacific Justice Institute is a public interest law firm, according to the website influencewatch.org . It advocates for christian values in K-12 curriculum and public schools. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it began offering Pro-bono legal representation to parents who protested school shutdowns.
..... The Goldwater Institute strongly supported former Arizona Governor Doug Duccy's 2022 law expanding school vouchers, which would pay around $7,000 in public funds to every Arizona student, including those attending private schools. Vouchers in other states are more typically associated with covering costs for low-income or special needs students, not all students.
..... "These national groups rally have entered the realm of a local issue and are pushing their political agendas," said Mike Gottesman, founder of the New Jersey Public Education Coalition. a grassroots group that counters disinformation in the culture was taking hold among some school boards in the state. The fact that these right-wing groups are intervening shows that "they are pushing their dogma' onto local issues and local parents, he said.

Copycat efforts by other districts

..... Platkin's closely watched campaign to block districts from passing parental notification policies is also spawning copycat efforts by some school boards.
..... A similar policy recently passed on a first reading by a vote of 6-1 in the Westwood Regional School District. This policy requires teachers to inform parents when they see "adverse" behavior, but takes pains to point out that notifications should not be based on characteristics defined in the law.
..... The policy was created under the belief that "parental rights are coming under risk," said Laura Cooper, who sits on the board's policy committee. She said "parental rights" are hear to "Protect children and the sanctity of the family" and not have to "co-parent with the state."
..... Critics said the policy;s language made its intent unclear, along with what it expectations were from school staff members, who are already obliged by law to inform the school about student-related concern.
..... Schools in Hamilton, Long Valley and Sparta were considering similar polices, Gottesman said.

NJ has 'always respected the rights of parents'

..... Platkin, who recently went on WNYC radio to defend his agency's lawsuits, says the state has never wanted to impinge on parents, and that its lawsuits protect policies that were in place before a politically fueled parental rights wave overtook some school boards.
..... "The state has always respected the rights of parents and agrees that parents should be involved in important decisions regarding their children - and any characterizations to the contrary are flatly incorrect," Platkin's office said in a statement. "To be clear: the state has never sought and never will seek a 'ban' on parental notification.
..... "Until just a few months ago, these polices were uncontroversial and widely accepted," the statement said. "all our lawsuits seek to do is reinstate the same policies these districts found acceptable with little protest for years."

'Defend faith and protect families'

..... The Pacific Justice Institute said that in the Hanover school district case, it was representing the New Jersey Family Policy alliance, whose executive director from 2019 to 2021 was former New Jersey Republican congressional candidate Shawn Hyland. The national Family Policy alliance describes its mission as to "defend faith and protect families by organizing, educating and mobilizing the social conservative movement in America."
..... Its national policy campaigns include Help Not harm, "to protect children from permanent, life-altering gender-transitions drugs and surgeries," and Save Girls Sports, "to protect women and girls from being forced to compete against biological males on female-only sports teams," according to its website.
..... Superior court Judge Stuart Minkowitz denied permission for the family Policy Alliance to join the lawsuit, writing in a court order that it had no stake in the matter and could not prove a claim that it was representing "families across" the state.
..... A Superior court judge in Monmouth county issued an injunction barring school districts in Paramaribo Township. Manalapan-Englishtown and Middletown from implementing their new parental notification polices in August. [2023] The injunction stays in place until a separate lawsuit brought by the attorney general over the legality of those policies is resolved.
..... Goldwater Institute staff attorney Adam Shelton told NorthJersey.com that the injunction was not a setback," and that it was "looking at all options: to put Marlboro Township's policy back in place until the state's complaint is resolved. The institute has worked closely with parental rights groups in New Jersey, Shelton said, but he would not identify them.
..... It could take up to two years for the lawsuit to be resolved, he said, noting that the Goldwater Institute is representing families in Maine, Massachusetts and Florida over similar issues. The Marlboro Township pre-K through eight grade district is different, from the institute's perspective, in that "parents' rights are stronger when it comes to younger children."

Suit against Hanover unresolved

..... Platkin's case against Morris County's Hanover Township school district the first to be sued over its parental notification policy, is going around in circles.
..... A temporary restraining order stopped Hanover from putting its policy into effect in May, [2023] but the district implemented a new policy with different wording. The state objected. The judge also aksed the two parites to resolve their differences in private and find "language they could live with." when that failed, the court agreed to and amended complaint from the state demanding an injunction against both of Hanover's policies.
..... This means Hanover is also effectively barred from implementing its new policy. "In order to avoid there same thing happening again, meaning implementation of another newly drafted policy, the court has understandably imposed a preliminary injunction requiring the school board to maintain the status quo," said private education law attorney ney Paul Barger.
..... During a hearing Wednesday, [09/06/2023] the judge heard arguments for and against the policy but and no ruling.

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