Governor Greg Abbott made parental rights a big focus of his RNC midterm convention speech, declaring: “I put a stop to the craziness by signing laws that protect parents’ rights in the state of Texas.”

Texas has indeed made major strides to advance parental rights in recent years, both through statute and a voter-approved constitutional amendment recognizing a parent’s right and duty to nurture and protect their children.

Parents’ rights are recognized on paper, but could benefit from strong mechanisms to defend them in practice. A landmark research paper from TPPF’s Noah Torres titled Toward an Office of Parental Rights in Texas addresses this exact challenge.

The paper lays out the reasons why protecting the family unit is essential to the state’s flourishing. Torres writes, “this theory of parental rights is undergirded by the belief that the family occupies a pre-political space and is the fundamental unit of society, and thus necessary for achieving the good of the individual and the common good of Texas”.

While Texas has codified parental primacy, families whose rights are infringed still face an uphill battle. Currently, a parent facing administrative overreach or non-compliant local school board policies must often retain expensive private legal counsel and undergo years of protracted litigation simply to exercise authority the law already guarantees.

To bridge the gap between statutory guarantees and everyday enforcement, TPPF recommends establishing an official Office of Parental Rights in Texas. This initiative would:

  • Centralize Enforcement: Provide parents with a direct administrative line to report and remedy violations of state parental rights laws without entering endless court battles.
  • Ensure Institutional Clarity: Reinforce that state authority remains “indirect and subsidiary to that of parents,” keeping family decisions in the hands of mothers and fathers.
  • Maintain Accountability: Monitor local governments and school districts to ensure full compliance with Texas family protection statutes.

Our state’s legislators largely agree that parents—not government institutions or school district bureaucrats—must remain the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, health, and education. But to safeguard Texas families against modern institutional overreach, lawmakers must equip parents with the administrative backing required to uphold their fundamental rights. Establishing an Office of Parental Rights is the next logical step toward making Texas the gold standard for family freedom.

 

This commentary is published on Thursdays as part of TPPF’s subscriber-only newsletter that rounds up content from the week. Subscribe to The Post >>