{"id":2574978,"date":"2026-03-01T20:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T01:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parents-get-enormous-payout-after-school-forces-kids-to-read-lgbt-books\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T20:43:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T01:43:26","slug":"parents-get-enormous-payout-after-school-forces-kids-to-read-lgbt-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parents-get-enormous-payout-after-school-forces-kids-to-read-lgbt-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents Get Enormous Payout After School Forces Kids to Read LGBT Books"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fparents-get-enormous-payout-after-school-forces-kids-to-read-lgbt-books%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2574978&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece discusses a Maryland case in which Montgomery County Public Schools were challenged by several sets of parents who claimed the district forced students to read storybooks with homosexual and transgender themes after parental notices and opt-outs were removed. The dispute highlighted the balance between parental rights and school curricula, with the involved families representing Christian, Islamic, and Jewish backgrounds.The Supreme Court later ruled that districts must <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-reasons-parents-are-absolutely-right-to-demand-informed-consent-to-what-schools-do-to-their-kids\/\" title=\"3 Reasons ... Are Absolutely Right To Demand Informed Consent To What Schools Do To Their Kids\">obtain parental consent<\/a> before presenting such material to students.<\/p>\n<p>Following that ruling, U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman ordered the district to pay $1.5 million in damages to the affected families, a judgment described by Becket\u2014the institution supporting the parents\u2014as enforcing the court\u2019s decision and reinforcing that parents have the final say in how their children are raised, including on religious grounds. The settlement is framed as a victory for parental rights and religious freedom, and it is indeed said to reshape how schools notify and obtain consent from parents about materials related to human sexuality.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Samuel Alito, in the Supreme Court opinion, argued that parents\u2019 right to direct the religious upbringing of their children must extend into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chicago-mayor-orders-teachers-back-into-classrooms-union-vows-to-call-a-strike\/\" title=\"Chicago Mayor Orders Teachers Back Into Classrooms, Union Vows To Call A Strike\">public school classroom<\/a>, and the ruling was presented as a correction of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >prior lower-court positions<\/a> on this issue. The article also notes suggestions for how districts might communicate with parents in advance about instructional texts and materials.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland was required to pay parents $1.5 million after forcing their children to read storybooks with homosexual and transgender themes.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, three sets of parents filed a lawsuit after parental notices and opt-outs were removed before their children were exposed to books about gender transitions and pride parades, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/montgomery-county-to-pay-15-million-after-supreme-court-ruling.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<p>But last June, the Supreme Court ruled that the district had to obtain parental consent before the children were shown the material.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman <a href=\"https:\/\/becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com\/20260219151333\/Consent-Judgment-in-Mahmoud-v-Taylor.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">issued<\/a> a financial judgment on Feb. 19, requiring the school to pay the impacted parents $1.5 million in damages, according to an <a href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/media\/montgomery-county-forced-to-pay-religious-families-after-scotus-ruling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alert<\/a> from Becket.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Public schools nationwide are on notice: running roughshod over parental rights and religious freedom isn&rsquo;t just illegal &mdash; it&rsquo;s costly,&rdquo; Eric Baxter, senior counsel at Becket and lead attorney for the parents, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: Maryland&rsquo;s Montgomery County Board of Education has agreed to pay $1.5 million in damages to Becket&rsquo;s clients in a settlement that follows the Supreme Court&rsquo;s landmark ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eric Baxter (@esbax) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/esbax\/status\/2024870964589203501?\">February 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This settlement enforces the Supreme Court&rsquo;s ruling and ensures parents, not government bureaucrats, have the final say in how their children are raised,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Moving forward, Montgomery County Public Schools must notify parents in advance before materials about human sexuality are used.<\/p>\n<p>The Christian Post reported that the district has several options to communicate the lessons to parents ahead of time.<\/p>\n<p>They include &ldquo;publishing via  to parents, prior to each marking period, descriptions of all core instructional texts and supplemental texts and materials (including videos) that have been approved for use during the marking period for each grade level.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Baxter added that &ldquo;it took tremendous courage for these parents to stand up to the School Board and take their case all the way to the Supreme Court.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The parents who filed the complaint against the school come from Christian, Islamic, and Jewish backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Their victory reshaped the law and ensured that generations of religious parents will be able to guide their children&rsquo;s upbringing according to their faith,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the 6-3 majority opinion, argued that parents have the right to raise their children in the religious tradition of their choosing.<\/p>\n<p>He said that &ldquo;the right of parents &lsquo;to direct the religious upbringing of their&rsquo; children would be an empty promise if it did not follow those children into the public school classroom.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Alito noted that the Supreme Court &ldquo;cannot agree&rdquo; with lower courts that have ruled otherwise over the past several decades.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; In Maryland, Montgomery County Public Schools were ordered to pay $1.5 million to several families after exposing their children to storybooks with LGBTQ themes without parental notice or opt\u2011outs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; In 2023, three groups of parents sued after parental notices and opt-outs were removed before their children encountered books about gender transitions and Pride events, according to The Christian Post. The case involved a Supreme Court ruling that required parental consent before such material could be shown to students.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; On February 19, 2026, U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman awarded the affected families $1.5 million in damages, Becket reported.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Becket\u2019s Eric Baxter described the settlement as a reminder that public schools cannot trample parental rights or religious freedom without consequences, and he said districts must now notify parents in advance when materials about human sexuality will be used. He outlined options for communication, including providing descriptions of core texts and supplementary materials approved for each grade level before each marking period.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The plaintiffs came from Christian, Islamic, and Jewish backgrounds. Baxter said the victory reshapes the law to let religious parents guide their children\u2019s upbringing in line with their faith. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the 6\u20113 majority, argued that parents have the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children, a right he said should extend into the public school classroom, criticizing lower courts that had ruled otherwise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2574979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Michael-Featured-Image-746.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[72163,74844,74843,74845,74021],"class_list":["post-2574978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-education-policy-2","tag-lgbtq-books","tag-parents-rights-3","tag-payout-controversy","tag-school-curriculum"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Michael-Featured-Image-746.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2574978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2574982,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574978\/revisions\/2574982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2574979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2574978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2574978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2574978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}