ANNAPOLIS (LifeSiteNews) — The Democrat-dominated Maryland House of Delegates has voted 100-35 to pass a so-called “Equal Education Opportunities” bill that pro-family groups warn would give the state control over the values of public and private schools alike, including religious educational institutions.
House Bill 649, an “Act concerning Advancing Equal Educational Opportunities for All Students in Maryland,” would empower the state Commission on Civil Rights to enforce language banning so-called “discrimination and retaliation in educational institutions based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or marital status” in education, enforceable by the State Superintendent, by Commission investigations, and a “private right of action,” i.e., opening schools up to lawsuits.
Schools “may not exclude an individual from participation” on the basis of any of the specified qualities, meaning that religious schools could not base admission decisions on an applicant’s acceptance or rejection of its religious teachings.
It makes an exception for “discrimination on the basis of religion” if a school “is affiliated with a religious institution,” but that would only cover applicants who identify with a different religion from the school, not those who openly disagree with or defy precepts of a faith they claim to hold.
“These government regulations would apply to ALL private schools from pre-K through college,” responded Education Freedom Institute president Corey DeAngelis. “Maryland Democrat politicians are socialists who think they own your kids.”
“So what is this bill about? It places the state government over control of private Christian schools so these schools can’t ‘discriminate’ in admissions toward students and families who disagree with the school on issues like homosexuality or transgenderism,” said Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder of the CLT Exam standardized test.
DeAngelis noted that the Maryland Family Institute would be “going to war against this authoritarian proposal.” That war is sure to be a difficult one, however, as Democrats also dominate the Maryland Senate, more than doubling the number of Republicans, while Democrat Wes Moore holds the governorship.
The indoctrination of children with left-wing ideology on sexuality, race, and other agenda items has long been a major concern in American public schools and libraries, from book shelves to drag events to classroom materials to even “transitioning” troubled children without parental input. Many schools have also displayed hostility to the rights and employment of individual teachers who refuse to go along with such agendas.
Maryland’s far-left lawmakers are also pushing legislation that would make it effectively impossible to enforce laws against infanticide. Last year, the state attempted to force a local school board to keep an explicit LGBT book in school libraries, and the state is currently under federal investigation for potentially coercing health providers into covering abortion.
