For years, concerned parents have warned that many government schools are moving far beyond their proper role of educating children. Instead of partnering with moms and dads, some districts have embraced policies that undermine parental authority, promote radical ideology, and even conceal important information from families.
Those concerns were front and center during a recent congressional hearing titled, “Breaking Trust: Attacks on Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, and Legal Abuses in America’s Schools,” where Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Macquline King testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce.
The hearing exposed an important question every parent and taxpayer should be asking:
Have government schools lost sight of their primary mission?
During the hearing, U.S. Representative Burgess Owens (R-UT) questioned King about the district’s troubling academic outcomes.
“Is a 77% failure rate in reading ok? A 76% failure rate in math and 88% of our Black students not being able to read, is that ok Dr. King? Is that success or failure?” Owens asked.
“That is not acceptable,” King responded. She is right. It is not acceptable. Watch their interaction in this short video segment:
CPS serves more than 316,000 students — down from approximately 381,000 students in 2016. Yet despite declining enrollment, the district’s proposed budget has reportedly grown from $6.4 billion in 2016 to $10 billion for the upcoming school year.
More spending. Fewer students. Unacceptable results.
This raises an obvious question: Why are government schools that are struggling to fulfill their most basic responsibility spending valuable time and resources promoting controversial social agendas?
Students need schools focused on academic excellence — not ideological activism.
To that point, U.S. Representative Mary Miller (R-Quincy) questioned Superintendent King over concerns about academic failures, parental transparency, and CPS policies regarding gender identity. During the hearing, Miller challenged CPS policies that allow students to socially transition without parental knowledge, raising concerns about parental rights and federal protections.
“Transparency and accountability shouldn’t require a subpoena,” Miller said, arguing that parents deserve full access to information involving their children. Watch the entire exchange in this video segment:
U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) summarized the concerns shared by millions of parents:
Across the country, school districts are losing sight of their core mission: educating students. When school policies affect the safety, privacy, and well-being of children, Congress has a responsibility to ask questions. When parents are excluded from major decisions involving their children, Congress has a responsibility to ask questions.
Exactly. This should not be controversial. Watch his opening statements in this video segment:
Parents are not obstacles to overcome. They are not outsiders who must earn the trust of government employees before being included in life-changing decisions involving their own children.
Parents are the primary caregivers, protectors, and moral guides of their sons and daughters.
Yet according to Chairman Walberg, Chicago Public Schools introduces students as young as first grade to concepts surrounding “gender identity.” He also highlighted curriculum materials that ask third-grade students to explain the difference between “sex assigned at birth” and “gender identity,” and noted that CPS introduces the topic of puberty blockers by fifth grade.
Why are government employees discussing these deeply personal and controversial issues with young children?
And why would any school district believe it has the authority to socially “transition” a child — including changing names, pronouns, and access to private spaces — without the knowledge and consent of parents?
This is not education — and it is much more than left-wing activism. It is the intrusion of government bureaucrats into the God-given authority and responsibility of the family. Children are entrusted to their parents — not school administrators, activists, teachers unions, or the government.
This point was emphasized during the hearing when U.S. Representative Bob Onder (R-MO) had an eye-opening exchange with Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence about whether biological boys should be allowed in female bathrooms and locker rooms. The exchange was revealing:
Rep. Onder: Should biological men be allowed in locker rooms with biologic women or girls?
Dr. Spence: Transgnder women should be allowed in women’s spaces.
Rep. Onder: So, biologic men should be able to go into locker rooms and shower rooms with biologic girls?
Dr. Spence: Federal law requires it. Yes.
Rep. Onder: No, it doesn’t.
Dr. Spence: Yes, it does.
Rep. Onder: No, Title IX does not. In fact, quite the opposite. Title IX requires you to protect women and girls.
For generations, schools understood they existed to support families. Teachers were entrusted with teaching reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history — not replacing mothers and fathers as the moral authorities in a child’s life.
Today, many districts are moving far beyond academics by withholding important information from parents while affirming and encouraging radical social, sexual and gender ideologies among vulnerable children.
No government employee knows a child better than the parents who love them, raise them, sacrifice for them, and are ultimately responsible for their physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual well-being.
At the heart of this debate is a simple but critically important question:
Who has the responsibility of raising children?
The answer to that question must be reiterated to a culture that has forgotten: God has given parents the responsibility and authority to raise their children. Children are not wards of the state; they are precious gifts entrusted by God to mothers and fathers (Psalm 127:3).
Scripture repeatedly teaches that parents are called to train, instruct, and guide their children (Deuteronomy 6:6–7; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4). The government’s role is not to replace parents, but to respect their God-given authority.
Parents and grandparents must remain vigilant. If at all possible, families should seriously consider getting out of government schools altogether. There much better options, including home education, Christian schools, or microschools that partner with parents and reinforce biblical truth.
We can no longer ignore the fact that public education has become increasingly radicalized over the past several decades. Many schools now promote dangerous sexual, divisive, and neo-Marxist ideologies while withholding critical information from mothers and fathers — breaking trust and undermining parental authority.
Schools must return to their core mission: teaching reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history while partnering with parents to prepare the next generation. Education should pursue truth and equip children for life — not promote ideology at the expense of truth.
Watch these other video segments from the hearing:
This content was composed and finalized by the author.
IFI staff and AI tools were used for proofing and clarity.
