Parents don't 'dictate' child's education, but should 'play a role,' nonprofit says

There is a heated debate in New Jersey's Lawrence Township Public Schools surrounding the district's transgender policy and the rights of parents when it comes to what their children are taught in school.

"The right, folks, of parents is not to dictate what their children are taught. It is to determine where they attend," John Comegno said at the Board of Education meeting.

Policy 5756, mandated by the state's Department of Education, makes it "unlawful for schools to subject individuals to differential treatment based on gender identity."

The district requires schools to accept a student's chosen gender identity with or without parental consent, and there is no "affirmative duty" for a staff member to notify parents or guardians of their child's gender identity, Crisis in the Classroom reported. Students also do not need to "meet any threshold diagnosis or treatments" in order to be recognized as a certain gender.

Comegno has faced a lot of backlash following his comment. Erika Sanzi, director of outreach at Parents Defending Education, joined The National Desk Friday with more on this.

Sanzi said this issue is "a little more nuanced than the backlash would tell, though I think what he said is very troubling."

"It is, of course, true that parents don't quote-unquote, dictate what their students learn, but they certainly play a role in being part of the process that decides what students learn," Sanzi told The National Desk's Jan Jeffcoat.

So for him to imply that the only role of a parent is to decide where their child goes, it's not only ludicrous, it also essentially says, 'Those of you that can't afford to make alternative choices, sorry, you're stuck here and you have no rights.'"

For Sanzi's full conversation with Jeffcoat, watch the video above.