Know what your child is being taught. Know what you can do about it.
Pacific Justice Institute President Brad Dacus sat down with two veteran educators for a practical conversation about parental rights at school. The full replay and every form and guide mentioned on air are on this page.
Most parents do not find out what is in their child’s classroom until something goes wrong.
By then they are trying to learn curriculum law, notification requirements, and opt-out procedure in the middle of a conflict with their school district, usually without a lawyer, usually while being told they have fewer rights than they actually have.
This page is meant to get ahead of that.
What the conversation covers
Know what your child is being taught
Curriculum transparency, how to request records, and when to start asking questions.
Know what you can opt out of
Sex education, gender-related instruction, and the notification schools owe you.
Know your child’s religious freedom
Whether students can pray, carry a Bible, or write about their faith in assignments.
Know what to do when a school says no
What to document, when to put it in writing, and when to call an attorney.
Know how to get involved
School board meetings, district policy, and what one parent can actually accomplish.
Live Q&A
Real questions from parents, answered on air.
The forms and guides parents ask us for
Everything below is free from Pacific Justice Institute. Start with the two forms, then go deeper on the topic that matters to your family.
AB 495 Parental Notice Form
Put your school district on written notice about your parental rights regarding your child’s safety, privacy, and wellbeing at school.
Get the form → Start herePublic School Opt-Out Forms
The opt-out forms discussed on air — covering sex education and other instruction you have the right to exempt your child from.
Get the forms →Sex-Ed Parental Rights (CA)
What California law lets schools teach, what they must tell you first, and what you can decline.
BookletPublic Education Religious Rights (CA)
Where the constitutional lines actually fall for students of faith in public schools. Eight more states in the dropdown above.
BookletThe Constitution on Campus
Your student’s rights to pray, speak, and carry a Bible at school, backed by case law.
GuideReclaim Your School
How to engage your school board and district policy as one parent, and actually get results.
GuideSex Education Resources
A deeper library on curriculum review, notification requirements, and exemptions.
FormNotice of Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
Written notice preserving your family’s privacy expectations with your school.
Guide12 Steps to Protect Your Children from CPS
Practical preparation every family should have in place before there is ever a knock.
GuideWhen You Get the Frightening Call from CPS
What to say, what not to say, and when to get an attorney involved.
LibraryAll Parent Resources
The complete PJI library for parents and grandparents — every guide, booklet, and form.
Facing a specific situation right now? Our attorneys will review it at no cost.
Who you’ll hear from
Brad Dacus
Founder and President, Pacific Justice Institute. For nearly three decades he has led a legal team that defends parents, students, churches, and families at no cost to them.
Eric Buehrer
Founder and President, Gateways to Better Education. A former public school teacher who has spent thirty years helping schools, parents, and students understand where the constitutional lines actually fall. His advocacy contributed to the federal guidance protecting prayer and religious expression in public schools.
Brenda Lebsack
Veteran California educator with more than twenty years in public school classrooms, and a sitting trustee on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education. She has argued for curriculum transparency and parental notification from inside the system, including when it cost her.
We are not selling anything here.
Pacific Justice Institute is a nonprofit legal defense organization. We represent parents, students, churches, and families in matters of religious freedom, parental rights, and civil liberties, and we do it free of charge.
If you leave with one form filled out and one question answered, this page did its job.
WATCH THE FULL CONVERSATION
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