Week in Review: A $900K Bill for Parents’ Rights

Do you want your rights respected? That’ll be $900,000.

It’s not a joke: In September, a law firm acting on behalf of Equality in Education—an organization made up of concerned Rochester, Minnesota, parents and other residents—filed a Minnesota Government Data Practices Act request with the Rochester Public Schools district seeking documents related to “equity and social justice topics often referred to as Critical Race Theory (‘CRT’).” After two months, the school district replied, saying it could provide the requested public records, if the parents were willing to pay more than $900,000—for information they already have the right to know!

This violation of parents’ rights shows why transparency in education is so necessary. Goldwater’s Academic Transparency Act would require public schools to post lists of their learning materials online, so that parents know what kinds of lessons are taught in those schools before their kids have to set foot in the classroom. Parents like those in Minnesota wouldn’t have to file public records requests to track down that information—since that information would already be public.

We’ve got the full story at In Defense of Liberty—you can read more here. And read more about Goldwater’s Academic Transparency law here.

Will We Fall off the Telehealth Cliff?

As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last year, the federal government and states across the country relaxed government rules and red tape to make telehealth more readily available. By using their telephone, tablets, and computers, more Americans could get the care they need more quickly and more easily.

But several of those states are now on the verge of sunsetting these regulation relaxations, and federal reforms are set to expire once the public health emergency ends. We may be standing on the edge of a telehealth cliff—but we don’t have to be.

In a new op-ed for The Hill, Goldwater Institute Director of Healthcare Policy Naomi Lopez explains how we can keep telehealth alive long after the pandemic ends. Arizona has already set an example for how to do that, passing Goldwater’s permanent telehealth reform legislation earlier this year. Lopez, who authored a chapter on telehealth for the brand-new book Don’t Wait for Washington: How States Can Reform Health Care Today, paints a picture of how making such reforms permanent in other places would “transform the healthcare delivery landscape, allowing for the re-imagining of how care is delivered.”

You can read Lopez’s full op-ed here, and check her full book chapter here.

Video: Highlights from Goldwater’s 2021 Annual Dinner

At the Goldwater Institute, our passion for freedom burns brightly—and we were honored to share that passion with the many friends and supporters who joined us for the Goldwater Annual Dinner in Scottsdale last month.

Governor Ron DeSantis, our keynote speaker, told the packed room that in the face of government overreach and creeping socialism, we must remain committed to the fight for freedom. “The fights that we’re engaged in today and will be engaged in next year and in the future are not just fights over policy differences,” Governor DeSantis said. “They’re fights over the fundamental soul and character of our individual states and of our nation, and when we’re fighting those fights, we need people who are going to be willing to stand strong in defense of freedom.” In addition to Governor DeSantis, we were also joined by nationally syndicated radio host Kevin Jackson and Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas, winner of the Goldwater Institute Freedom Award.

In case you missed this special evening, you can watch highlights of Goldwater’s biggest night of the year in the above video.

LAST CHANCE: Lessons for the Littlest Liberty Lovers

How can we start teaching our kids about freedom in a way that really speaks to them? The Tuttle Twins children’s book series does just that: It opens the world of history to young readers and gives them their first lessons on what liberty is all about and why it’s important.

Next week—on Tuesday, December 7, at 1pm MST—you can learn all about how to impart these important lessons to the little ones in your life. It’s your last chance to sign up for Goldwater’s special live-streaming event, featuring Tuttle Twins series author Connor Boyack and Goldwater’s Christina Sandefur.

Registration is free and comes with a 40% off coupon for the entire 12-book Tuttle Twins series!

Click here to learn more and to sign up for the event—we hope you can join us!