Opt-Out - Protect Your Children's Education

Parents’ Rights in Education Leaders and Advocates,

  Parents ask us every week: “Can I opt my child out of this?” A lesson. A unit. A classroom activity. A “special presentation.” A sensitive topic introduced with little (or no) notice. PRE’s answer is simple: Parents have the right to protect their child’s education—and to opt out when instruction conflicts with their family’s values.  

Opt-Out: Protect Your Children’s Education

We created a new parent resource. Learn how to opt your child out of curriculum that conflicts with your family values.

What Is the Opt-Out Program?

The Opt-Out Program gives parents the tools and resources to protect their child’s education. You can safely opt your child out of lessons, curriculum, or activities that conflict with your family’s values or beliefs. This is about restoring what should already be normal in K–12 education: transparency, consent, and respect for families.  

How It Works

Three ways to get started:

1) Testify to Your School Board Ask your district to adopt and enforce opt-out policies—with clear notice, transparent materials, and straightforward procedures families can actually use. 2) Write Letters and Op-Eds Shape the public conversation in your community. Calm, factual parent voices shift the narrative—and school boards pay attention. 3) Report an Issue Tell us when your district ignores your rights. If your school denies opt-outs, refuses curriculum transparency, or creates barriers for parents, PRE wants to hear about it.  

Why This Matters

The Supreme Court reaffirmed parents’ constitutional right to opt their children out of sensitive classroom instruction.

Right now, school districts are deciding how much transparency they will offer—and many are doing so without parent input. If we don’t claim our rights, most districts won’t be compelled to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision. WARNING! Waiting invites exclusion. Acting now ensures we are part of that process.  

Call to Action: Stop Indoctrination.

Restore Consent. Protect Kids.

Parents: this is not a “difference of opinion.”

When schools expose minors to controversial—and often demonstrably false—claims as if they’re settled truth, it doesn’t just inform students. It can indoctrinate and mislead, shaping identity and behavior while bypassing the one safeguard children deserve: parental knowledge and consent. Children are still developing judgment. They naturally trust authority. When ideology is presented as fact, minors can be pressured into harmful behaviors, misled into high-stakes decisions, and steered toward long-term life choices without parental involvement. That ends when parents take their seat at the table.  

Do this today!

1) OPT OUT—IN WRITING. Use PRE’s Opt-Out resource and submit a written request for any lesson, unit, activity, survey, or program that conflicts with your family’s values. Keep copies. Document responses. 2) DEMAND TRANSPARENCY BEFORE INSTRUCTION. Ask your principal and school board for:

• Advance notice of sensitive topics
• Access to materials (slides, readings, videos, handouts)
• A clear opt-out process posted publicly
• An alternative assignment that is truly equivalent

3) REPORT EVERY VIOLATION. If your district hides content, refuses materials review, discourages opt-outs, or retaliates against families—report it to PRE. Patterns matter, and we track them. 4) SHOW UP AND SPEAK UP. At the next board meeting, say it plainly: “My child is not a captive audience. Consent matters. Parents must have the right to opt out—without penalty.”  

Get Started Today

✅ Free resources. Easy to use. ✅ Start protecting your child’s education today.  

My Take

When districts say, “there’s no opt-out,” what they often mean is: “Parents aren’t part of the process.” PRE is changing that—with practical tools that help families act respectfully, firmly, and effectively. Because schools are for everyone—and parental rights are not optional.

Suzanne Gallagher