America First Legal (AFL) has introduced a "Parents' Rights Toolkit" aimed at assisting families in safeguarding their children from what it describes as "woke leftist teachers and bureaucrats" within the United States education system. The toolkit also aims to provide guidance for the incoming Trump Administration on addressing these issues.
The toolkit includes resources such as template letters designed to help parents file civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. These complaints can be filed under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination; Title VI, which addresses discrimination based on race, color, or national origin; and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which allows parents to review and opt out of certain school lessons.
Title IX mandates that all public and many private educational institutions comply with its provisions against sex-based discrimination. It defines "sex" as biological sex, male or female, protecting facilities like girls' sports teams and bathrooms from being accessed by individuals not matching their biological sex.
Title VI is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and protects against racial discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance. This includes schools at all levels that cannot deny services or benefits based on race or segregate individuals.
The PPRA applies to public schools and grants parents the right to inspect instructional materials used in their child's education. Parents must request access to these materials proactively, as schools are not required to provide them without a request.
Ian Prior, Senior Advisor at America First Legal, stated: “For the past four years, public schools have been indoctrinating children with radical racist, anti-semitic, and transgender ideologies. As these schools have blatantly violated civil rights law, the Biden Administration worked hand in glove to federalize these illegal practices. That ends in 2025, as the incoming administration has made clear that it will crack down on these woke schools that abuse their federal funds to implement insane ideologies that hurt children."
Prior emphasized that AFL's toolkit empowers parents to identify violations of civil rights laws in education systems: "The America First Legal Parental Rights Toolkit empowers parents to assist the federal government in identifying where the law is being broken so that we can turn our failing education system around.”
AFL intends for this initiative to support parents in advocating for civil rights while providing a framework for future actions by governmental authorities.