AB 1955: A Step Back for Parent-Teacher Collaboration

As a dedicated and supportive member of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) for over 30 years, I am sharing my recent communication in this post to express my deep concern and disappointment regarding ACSA’s formal endorsement and support of AB 1955. With a heavy heart, I must inform you that this stance has compelled me to reconsider my long-standing affiliation with this esteemed organization.

While I agree that the safety of all students, regardless of race, religion, sex, gender, or gender preferences, should be protected, AB 1955 goes beyond these well-intentioned goals.

Message to ACSA’s endorsement and support of AB1955 After having been an active and supportive member of ACSA for over 30 years, I am sad to write that I can no longer remain a member of our organization after reading about ACSA’s formal position of support for AB 1955.  

Having served at the top levels of administration as a superintendent for 17 years, I had always promoted, encouraged, and welcomed the involvement of our parents in all aspects of their children’s lives.  I have always considered parents as the most influential supporter and influencer in the lives of their children. I do agree that issues surrounding the safety of all students based on race, religion, sex, gender and gender preferences should be protected.  However, AB 1955 goes well beyond the well intentions of our legislators and will have a chilling effect on teacher, administrator and parent relationships. This bill will create a wall of secrecy and mistrust between school personnel and the parents.   Instead of working with parents to ensure positive interactions with their children concerning gender issues, this assumes that our parents are part of the problem and not part of the solution.  Alienating parents and treating them as persons that have no say in potentially permanent and irreversible life changing matters involving their children is not a solution that helps kids. This bill will create a wall of secrecy and mistrust between school personnel and the parents.  Instead of working with parents to ensure positive interactions with their children concerning gender issues, this assumes that our parents are part of the problem and not part of the solution.  Alienating parents and treating them as persons that have no say in potentially permanent and irreversible life changing matters involving their children is not a solution that helps kids.

In my experience, parents are, by far, the most able and interested persons invested in all aspects of their children’s lives.  The type of home that this bill targets are the exception and not the rule.  Yet, a bill such as this based on the exception places an unreasonable burden on school personnel while encouraging students to mistrust their own parents' willingness and abilities to support and protect them. School personnel at all levels should be encouraged to partner with parents instead of blocking them from being a part of the support systems that are so badly needed.  AB 1955, in practice, flips the assumptions of parents as partners to parents as problems.  The bond between parent and child is vital and should be the primary strategy for helping children. 

Parents will be sent a clear message that their roles as guardians will now be diminished and re-labeled as the “bad guys” as the default setting under AB 1955.  Under AB 1955, school personnel will now be required under penalty of law to  withhold vital information from parents thus declaring that the state knows best.

I am saddened to see that ACSA’s board has decided to encourage this approach to school home relations without understanding all the ramifications of an educational system that is paid for by our parents but now is, by law, designed to foster mistrust and deception with them.  I suspect that there will be a great number of school personnel who, for moral conscience reasons, will not go along with the deceptive requirements of this bill. Additionally, I project that many of our most valued human resources - namely our families - will now turn from our public systems to other alternatives if it means that they will maintain the sanctity of their home.

I regret having to withdraw my membership, even as an emeritus member. 

Sincerely,

Arturo Delgado, Ed.D.