A member of Congress from Alaska voted against a bill allowing parents to access the curriculum at their children’s school while accepting thousands from groups that support schools hiding gender identity from parents.
Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola voted against the Parents Bill of Rights Act in March 2023, which would have required schools to allow parents to inspect curriculum and library books; to obtain parental consent before letting a child socially transition at school; and to inform parents of violent activity at school.
Aimed at protecting the right of parents to guide their children’s education, the Parents Bill of Rights passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 24 on a 213-208 party-line vote. Peltola was one of the 208 Democrats who voted against parental transparency in education.
Peltola has received more than $40,000 from far-left groups’ political arms that support schools socially transitioning kids and giving kids access to sexually explicit library books, like the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, and Human Rights Campaign.
Since 2022, Peltola has accepted $20,000 from the PAC of the far-left National Education Association, which also opposed the Parents Bill of Rights. The NEA, America’s largest teachers’ union, recommended that teachers assign “Gender Queer” as summer reading even though the comic book style novel graphically depicts gay sex.
Peltola has received $15,000 from the American Federation of Teachers’s AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education since 2022. AFT President Randi Weingarten said the Parents Bill of Rights “would require schools to divert their limited resources from teaching, censor education, ban books, and harm children who are just trying to be themselves and live their lives in peace.”
The Alaska Democrat also has taken $6,000 from the Human Rights Campaign Fund. The Human Rights Campaign supports irreversible transgender medical interventions for children and peddles the lie that children are less likely to commit suicide if they transition.
The Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools Program trains elementary school teachers on “creating LGBTQ+ and gender inclusive schools.”
Last summer, Peltola took to X to urge followers to donate to Identity, which helps children get sterilizing hormone treatments and irreversible transgender surgeries.
“Many people feel alienated from their bodies during puberty under the best of circumstances, and for children who are trans* and aware of their sex incongruence, being forced to undergo puberty and have their bodies change into the wrong sex is devastating,” Identity’s website says, promoting puberty blockers for children.
Peltola became the representative of Alaska’s singular congressional district after beating former Gov. Sarah Palin and small business owner Nick Begich in a ranked-choice voting election in 2022.
She will face Begich again in November.
The Alaska congressional race could determine whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress in 2025. Peltola’s race is a key toss-up election, according to the Center for Politics.
Begich told The Daily Signal that his opponent, Peltola, is on board with the Biden-Harris administration’s plans to push gender ideology into the classroom, “forcing teachers to push concepts that are neither rooted in science nor basic logic.”
“Parents trust the school system to educate and protect children while at school, not indoctrinate them in the latest leftwing political fads,” Begich said. “Congresswoman Peltola has been part and parcel with this agenda, voting against the Parents Bill of Rights and even encouraging Alaskans to donate to organizations that support so-called ‘gender transitions’ for children.”
“Parents should have a right to access their children’s curriculum, receive full transparency from the school system, and continue to be the ones responsible for raising their children,” Begich added.
Cindy Glassmaker, an Alaska mother of three girls,was disappointed in her congresswoman’s vote against the Parents Bill of Rights.
“To me, being a parent means having a say in decisions that affect our children until they reach 18,” Glassmaker told The Daily Signal. “I believe our congresswoman should be advocating for greater parental involvement, fostering a partnership between parents and schools to prioritize the well-being of our students.
“I am outraged that she accepted significant donations from anti-parent groups that support schools keeping gender identity issues hidden from parents,” Glassmaker continued.
Peltola told Anchorage Daily News she voted against the Parents Bill of Rights to protect students’ “right to privacy.” The bill prohibits schools from hiding student gender identity from the parents.
“The reason I did not vote for this particular bill, is because I feel like students should have some right to privacy,” Peltola said in 2023. “And I think they should have a right to feel safe at school.”
Peltola did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about her position on parental rights.
Alaska mother and Anchorage Moms for Liberty Chair Gabby Ide told The Daily Signal she feels Peltola doesn’t stand up for her rights as a parent.
“Mary Peltola isn’t looking out for Alaska’s families,” Ide said. “She voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023. She co-sponsored the Equality Act, which would allow males in female locker rooms and bathrooms. When she does vote, she appears totally out of touch with parents’ desire for accountability in education results and our fundamental right to direct the upbringing of our children.”