State Rep. Luke Meerman, chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Child Welfare, today raised serious concerns about new proposed health education standards that attempt to sidestep established parental oversight of sensitive topics in Michigan classrooms. 

The State Board of Education in September approved a draft update to health education standards for the first time since 2007. The proposed changes would introduce new lessons on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in grades 6-8, blurring long-standing lines between health education and reproductive health instruction. 

Meerman said the proposal is a clear effort to bypass the local parental advisory boards that are required by law to review and approve reproductive health curriculum. 

“State law is very clear. Reproductive health education must be developed locally with direct parental input and the ability for families to opt out,” said Meerman, of Coopersville. “Shuffling these sensitive topics into the general health education curriculum is a clear attempt to evade those safeguards – a backdoor attempt to teach controversial material in the classroom without parents’ knowledge or consent.” 

Meerman said the proposed update undermines parental rights and exposes children to politically motivated ideology instead of focusing on their academic needs. 

“Instead of working to close those gaps in our failed education system, bureaucrats in Lansing are prioritizing lessons on gender theory and removing the very parental oversight designed to protect families,” said Meerman, a father of five. “That’s wrong, and Michigan parents see right through it.” 

The House Oversight Subcommittee on Child Welfare recently heard testimony on the proposed standards and their implications for local control and parental rights. Meerman said he and his colleagues will continue pressing state education leaders to respect the law, protect children, and ensure parents have a seat at the table. 

“Parents are the first and most important teachers in a child’s life,” Meerman said. “Any curriculum that touches on sensitive issues must be developed transparently and with their full involvement.”