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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a federal complaint on behalf of families in Illinois urging the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) to launch an investigation into Illinois’ new law requiring annual mental health screenings for all students in grades 3-12 without first obtaining parental consent in direct violation of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).
By requiring schools to ask children deeply personal questions about their mental health, Illinois’ Public Act 104-0032 shifts decision-making authority away from parents and places it in the hands of the state. This statute flagrantly violates the PPRA, which requires schools to receive affirmative consent from parents before requiring any student to submit to a “survey, analysis, or evaluation” that concerns “mental or psychological problems of the student or the student’s family.”
Public Act 104-0032 not only violates federal law—it undermines the presumption, recognized by the Supreme Court for nearly a century, that fit parents act in the best interests of their children. Teachers and school personnel in Illinois are mandatory reporters required by law to inform the Department of Children and Family Services whenever “they have reasonable cause to believe that a child…may be an abused child.” By forcing students to participate in secretive mental health screenings that may trigger child welfare investigations, Illinois is treating parents as suspects and families as subjects of state monitoring.
AFL’s request for investigation should serve as a warning shot for every state government considering similar legislation: schools don’t raise children, parents do; and that right is protected under federal law. The Constitution does not permit government agencies to pry into the emotional lives of children under the guise of “mental health initiatives.” AFL is taking action to ensure that every parent’s right to consent—to know, to decide, and to protect their child—is respected in every classroom in America.
“The State of Illinois has no right to interrogate, investigate, or even ask children about their emotions or family life without parental consent,” said Nick Barry, Senior Counsel for America First Legal. “Our Constitution rejected any idea that children are a creature of the state; instead, parents have the right, and obligation, to prepare their children for adulthood. Federal law is clear: parents decide, not schools, not bureaucrats. This law is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unacceptable. The Department of Education can use its authority to correct it.”
Read the full request for investigation here.
View all of AFL’s resources for parents here.
Learn more about AFL’s work to protect parents’ rights here.
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