My Child, My Choice Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 216 To prohibit Federal education funds from being provided to elementary schools that do not require teachers to obtain written parental consent prior to teaching lessons specifically related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or transgender studies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To prohibit Federal education funds from being provided to elementary schools that do not require teachers to obtain written parental consent prior to teaching lessons specifically related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or transgender studies, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘My Child, My Choice 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H216.IH H216 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 216 IH SEC. 2. WRITTEN PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED FOR 1 TEACHING OF INFORMATION RELATED TO 2 GENDER IDENTITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, 3 OR TRANSGENDER STUDIES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—No funds under an applicable pro- 5 gram may be provided to an elementary school determined 6 by the Secretary of Education under subsection (c) to not 7 be in compliance with subsection (b). 8 (b) WRITTEN PARENTAL CONSENT.— 9 (1) CONSENT REQUIRED.—A teacher employed 10 by an elementary school shall, prior to teaching a 11 lesson specifically related to gender identity, sexual 12 orientation, or transgender studies, request written 13 consent from the parent of each student enrolled in 14 the class in which the teacher plans to teach such 15 lesson. 16 (2) TIMING.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—A teacher shall request 18 the written consent required under paragraph 19 (1) not later than 30 days prior to the date on 20 which the teacher plans to teach such lesson. 21 (B) DURATION OF CONSENT.—A teacher 22 shall request such written consent each such 23 time the teacher plans to teach such lesson. 24 (3) SUBMISSION.—A parent providing written 25 consent shall submit such written consent to the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H216.IH H216 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 216 IH principal of the school not later than the date de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2)(A). 2 (4) CONSENT NOT OBTAINED.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a stu- 4 dent whose parent does not submit written con- 5 sent under paragraph (3), the school shall pro- 6 vide such student with an alternative period of 7 learning or study hall. 8 (B) 50 PERCENT REQUIRED.—If the prin- 9 cipal does not receive written consent from the 10 parents of at least 50 percent of the students 11 enrolled in the class in which the teacher plans 12 to teach such lesson, the teacher may not teach 13 such lesson. 14 (c) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Students enrolled in an ele- 16 mentary school, parents of such students, and teach- 17 ers employed by an elementary school may submit, 18 to the Secretary, a report that such school was not 19 in compliance with subsection (b). 20 (2) REVIEW.—The Secretary shall review each 21 such report and make a determination with respect 22 to whether the elementary school identified in such 23 report is in compliance with subsection (b). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H216.IH H216 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 216 IH (3) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.—If the 1 Secretary makes a determination that the school is 2 not in compliance with subsection (b), the Secretary 3 shall— 4 (A) notify the school of such determina- 5 tion; 6 (B) provide a period of 15 days after such 7 notification for the school to— 8 (i) comply with subsection (b); and 9 (ii) submit to the Secretary a written 10 confirmation of compliance with subsection 11 (b), which shall include— 12 (I) an identification of each re- 13 quirement of subsection (b) with 14 which the school was not in compli- 15 ance; and 16 (II) the plans and actions the 17 school is taking to ensure that the 18 school continues to be in such compli- 19 ance; and 20 (C) evaluate the written confirmation sub- 21 mitted under subparagraph (B)(ii) and make a 22 final determination with respect to whether the 23 school is in compliance with subsection (b). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H216.IH H216 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 216 IH (d) FEDERAL FUNDS.—If the Secretary makes a 1 final determination under subsection (c)(3)(C) that an ele- 2 mentary school is not in compliance with subsection (b), 3 no funds under an applicable program may be provided 4 to such school for the school year immediately following 5 the school year in which such school is determined to be 6 out of compliance. 7 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) APPLICABLE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘appli- 9 cable program’’ has the meaning given the term in 10 section 400(c) of the General Education Provisions 11 Act (20 U.S.C. 1221(c)). 12 (2) BIOLOGICAL SEX.—The term ‘‘biological 13 sex’’ means the biological indication of male or fe- 14 male in the context of reproductive potential or ca- 15 pacity, including sex chromosomes, naturally occur- 16 ring sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous inter- 17 nal and external genitalia present at birth. 18 (3) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 19 school’’ and ‘‘parent’’ have the meanings given such 20 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 21 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 22 (4) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 23 identity’’ means an individual’s perception of their 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H216.IH H216 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 216 IH own gender or claimed gender, regardless of the bio- 1 logical sex of the individual. 2 (5) LESSON.—The term ‘‘lesson’’ means a 3 planned and structured period of learning. 4 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 5 the Secretary of Education. 6 (7) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘‘sexual 7 orientation’’ means an individual’s actual or per- 8 ceived romantic, physical or sexual attraction to 9 other individuals, or lack thereof, on the basis of 10 gender. 11 (8) TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUAL.—The term 12 ‘‘transgender individual’’ means an individual whose 13 gender identity or behavior does not conform to that 14 typically associated with the biological sex of the in- 15 dividual. 16 (9) TRANSGENDER STUDIES.—The term 17 ‘‘transgender studies’’ means the study of 18 transgender individuals. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jan 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H216.IH H216 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS