A New York public high school had students identify a picture displaying graphic terms for intercourse during a sex education class in 2022, and the terms were so lewd the media would not disclose them, reported KATV New York. Now, parents across the country are demanding their right to be privy to what goes on in classrooms in order to best protect their children. 

As the battle over parental rights continues, Defending Education, a nonprofit organization working to shield America’s education system from the radicalization of the far Left, is seeking to make sure parents know their right to opt their child out of a sex ed class, amongst others.

Defending Education released a report on October 1 scoring the 50 states and the District of Columbia on the five areas of gender and sexuality, “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” parental rights, teacher policies, and foreign influence. The report combines the scores into an overall list of Rankings on Integrity in State Education (RISE). 

In its findings, the state of Tennessee proved to have the highest RISE score, with Washington, D.C. in the 51st spot. 

Terry Stoops, who serves as director of Government Affairs for Defending Education, explained during a Monday appearance on “Washington Watch” that the difference between the first and last ranked states is policy. Stoops remarked that in states such as Tennessee, the “state legislatures have implemented to make it clear that gender ideology has no place in the classroom, that schools have a responsibility to inform parents of their children expressing certain expressions of gender ideology at school, and parents are to be informed of sex education courses, that they have a right to opt [their children] out of. … These are policies that enforce parental rights that have a clear statement of what parental rights are for the state.”

Stoops added that another way for states to keep progressive ideology out of the classroom is by monitoring teachers’ unions. “Teachers unions are the institutions that by far are pushing gender ideology in the states that rank worst in our rankings. So, those states that are keeping teachers’ unions in check are also keeping gender ideology and DEI in check.” 

In many blue states, parents are often kept in the dark on public school policies having to do with gender and sexuality.

“That’s why you see so many Democrat-dominated states at the bottom of our ranking,” Stoops continued, “because for the most part, they are continuing to have policies that make sure that the gender ideology is something that’s kept from parents. That’s one of the reasons why you see Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and so many of these states that have transparent policies that make sure parents are the first to know when their children, are expressing any sort of gender ideology scoring very well in our ranking.”

Stoops went on to note the importance of parents’ knowledge and comfortability with their children’s sex education. “They should be very clear to their school board [about] their sex education curriculum and the standards that are in place. … [I]f they’re not acceptable … their child should not be subject to them.”

“I would encourage parents that if their public school has a sex education curriculum that is not acceptable to them, that they should seek educational alternatives,” Stoops urged. “We are fortunate to live in a time where if a public school is providing a curriculum that does not meet the standards of their parents, that we have a tremendous number of options that are coming online, that will provide parents the type of education that is suitable to their values and to the needs of those parents.”

Christian, pro-family organizations such as Focus on the Family provide sex education resources for parents who wish to give their children a godly explanation on the topic.