House GOP Passes Parents' Rights Bill in Clash Over Schools
众议院共和党通过了学校冲突中的家长权利法案
House Republicans on Friday narrowly passed legislation that would fulfill a campaign promise to give parents a role in what’s taught in public schools. It has little chance in the Democrat-run Senate and critics said it would propel a far-right movement that has led to book bans, restrictions aimed at transgender students, and raucous school board meetings across the country.
众议院共和党人在周五勉勉强强通过了一项立法，该立法将实现其竞选承诺，让家长在公立学校的教学中发挥作用。不过该立法在民主党控制的参议院中几乎没机会实现，并且批评家说它将推动一场极右翼运动，导致图书禁令，针对跨性别学生的限制，以及全国各地喧闹不休的学校董事会会议。
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. who made the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act a priority during the early weeks of his tenure, said Republicans were “keeping our promise, our commitment to America, that parents will have a say in their kids’ education.” The bill passed 213-208, with five Republicans—mostly members of the House Freedom Caucus—voting against it.
加利福尼亚州共和党议长凯文·麦卡锡他在任期的最初几周将父母权利法案作为优先事项，他说共和党人“信守我们对美国的承诺，父母将在孩子的教育中保有发言权。”该法案以213票对208票通过，五名共和党人——大多数是众议院自由核心小组的成员——投了反对票。
It would require schools to publish course studies and a list of books kept in libraries, as well as affirm parents’ ability to meet with educators, speak at school board meetings, and examine school budgets.
法案将要求学校公布课程研究和图书馆藏书清单，并认同家长在与教育工作者会面、在学校董事会会议上发言以及审查学校预算的权力。
In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised that the legislation would face a “dead end.” He said it was further evidence that the House GOP had been overtaken by “hard right MAGA ideologues”—referencing former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
在参议院，多数党领袖、纽约州民主党人查克·舒默（Chuck Schumer）发誓这项立法将面临“死胡同”。他说，这进一步证明众议院共和党已经被“极右MAGA理论家”超越——这是指前总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）的“让美国再次伟大”竞选口号。
The bill was an early test of unity for the 222 House Republicans and their thin majority. The measure showed how the adoption of an open amendment process in the House—a concession McCarthy made to win hard-line conservatives’ support for his speakership—holds the potential to send legislation down unpredictable twists and turns.
该法案是对222个众议院共和党人及其微势团体的早期考验。这项措施表明，众议院通过公开的修正案程序——指麦卡锡为赢得强硬保守派对他的议长职位的支持而做出的让步——有可能使立法出现不可预测的变数。
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., successfully added amendments that would require schools to report when transgender girls join girls’ athletics teams and if trans girls are allowed to use girls’ school restrooms or locker rooms. The bill would also require elementary and middle schools get parents’ consent to change a child’s gender designation, pronouns, or name.
科罗拉多州共和党众议员劳伦·博贝特（Lauren Boebert）成功地补充了修正案，要求学校要报告跨性别女孩何时加入女子田径队，以及她们是否被允许使用女子学校的洗手间或更衣室。该法案还要求小学和中学在改变孩子的性别名称、代词或名字时要征得家长的同意。
Advocates for LGBTQ people said the proposal poses a threat to LGBTQ students by potentially forcing them to come out to their families, which can sometimes lead to abuse or abandonment.
LGBTQ人群的支持者表示，该提案对LGBTQ学生构成了威胁，可能会迫使他们向家人出柜，有时甚至会导致他们被虐待或遗弃。
“It’s part of a pattern of attempts we’re seeing where the right wing of the Republican Party is really trying to marginalize LGBTQ people,” said David Stacy, the government affairs director for Human Rights Campaign.
“这就是我们看到的共和党右翼试图边缘化LGBTQ人群的模式的一部分，”人权运动的政府事务主任大卫·斯泰西说。
House Freedom Caucus members unsuccessfully tried to add provisions that called for abolishing Department of Education programs in schools and endorsed vouchers that would send public funds to private schools.
众议院自由核心小组成员试图增加呼吁学校废除教育部在校项目的条款，并批准向私立学校提供公共资金的代金券，但没有成功。
Rep. Thomas Massie, R—Kentucky, pointed to the 100-plus Republicans who supported his amendment to terminate the department’s authority and said “it adds a lot of momentum.”
肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·马西（Thomas Massie）指出，100多名共和党人支持他终止该部门权力的修正案，并表示“这急剧加大了势头”。
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and racial justice protests, conservatives’ intense focus on parental control over public school classrooms has migrated from local school board fights to Republican-held statehouses and now to the floor of the U.S. House.
在冠状病毒疫情和种族正义抗议之后，保守派对家长控制公立学校教学的强烈关注已经从地方学校董事会的斗争转移到共和党控制的州议会，现在已深入美国众议院。
“Parents want schools focused on reading, writing and math, not woke politics,” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., said during earlier debate.
“家长们希望学校把重点放在阅读、写作和数学上，而不是政治上，”伊利诺伊州共和党众议员玛丽·米勒在先前的辩论中说。
Public school education in the U.S. has long invited concern among some parents—usually conservative—over what children are taught. Historically, the term “parents’ rights” has been used in schoolhouse debates over homeschooling, sex education, and even the teaching of languages other than English.
美国的公立学校教育长期以来一直引起一些家长——通常是保守派——对孩子所学内容的关注。从历史上看，“父母的权利”一词曾被用于学校关于家庭学校教育、性教育甚至英语以外的语言教学的辩论中。
Recently, Republicans have tapped into frustrations over remote learning and mask mandates in schools, as well as social conservatives’ opposition to certain teachings on race that are broadly labeled as critical race theory, a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism.
最近，共和党人利用了民众对远程学习和学校强制要求戴口罩的不满，以及社会保守派对某些被广泛称为批判种族理论的种族教学的反对，批判种族理论是一种通过种族主义视角思考美国历史的方式。
Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected as Virginia’s governor in 2021 on the slogan “Parents matter” and political action committees have poured millions of dollars into school board races nationwide.
共和党人格伦·扬金（Glenn Youngkin）在2021年以一句“父母很重要”的口号当选弗吉尼亚州州长，政治行动委员会已经向全国学校的董事会竞选投入了数百万美元。
McCarthy made the bill a big part of his 2022 election pitch to voters to give Republicans a House majority. But the GOP’s expectation of a sweeping victory never materialized, and even in school board races, conservative groups’ goal of electing hundreds of “parents’ rights” activists largely fell short.
麦卡锡将该法案作为他2022年选举向选民推销自己时的重要组成，以使共和党获得众议院的多数席位。但共和党对大获全胜的期望从未实现，即使在学校董事会竞选中，保守团体让数百名“家长权利”活动人士入选的目标也在很大程度上落空了。
But McCarthy pressed ahead with the bill, making a public appeal earlier this month at an event that featured a chalkboard, schoolchildren, and parents who have been on the frontlines of the cause.
但麦卡锡继续推进该法案，并在本月早些时候在一次活动中公开呼吁，活动以黑板、学童和一直站在该事业第一线的家长为特色。
When asked about the five Republican votes against the bill, McCarthy contended that “Democrats are too extreme to believe that parents should have a say” in their children’s education.
当被问及共和党以五票反对该法案时，麦卡锡认为“民主党人太极端了，不相信父母应该对孩子的教育有发言权”。
Democrats said they want to foster parental involvement, but said the bill caters to a vocal minority set on controlling and politicizing classrooms. They derided it as the “Politics over Parents Act.”
民主党人表示，他们希望促进家长的参与，但表示该法案迎合了少数人控制和政治化教学的声音。他们嘲笑这是“政治凌驾于父母之上的法案”。
Attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries surged to their highest number in 2022 since the American Library Association began keeping data 20 years ago, according to a new report the organization released this week.
根据该组织本周发布的一份新报告，自美国图书馆协会20年前开始保存数据以来，学校和公共图书馆试图禁止和限制图书的数量在2022年飙升至最高水平。
“We’ll fight against this legislation. We’ll fight against the banning of books, fight against the bullying of children from any community, and certainly from the LGBTQ+ community,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
“我们将反对这项立法，反对禁书运动，反对欺凌任何团体的儿童，当然也包括LGBTQ+团体，”众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯说。
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore. offered alternative legislation that she argued would foster parental involvement, encourage collaboration with educators and make schools welcoming places to families, including those with LGBTQ students.
俄勒冈州众议员苏珊娜·博纳米奇提出了替代性的立法，她认为这将提高家长的参与度，推动与教育工作者的合作，并使学校成为对家庭，包括那些有LGBTQ学生的家庭友好的地方。
“We want parents to be involved—peacefully,” she said.
“我们希望父母能和平地参与进来，”她表示。
