Amy Bohn is the president and co-founder of PERK (Protecting Educational Rights for Children), a California-based organization that advocates for parents' rights at the local and state level and is a constant irritant to Democrats. Governor Gavin Newsom.
Bohn sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss California's recently passed AB 1955 law, which prohibits educators from informing parents when their children change their pronouns, name, or gender identity at school.
Bon argues that the law is a usurpation of parental rights.
“So California’s AB 1955, I think, is one of the worst bills we’ve seen to date, it prohibits parents from having any notification or information about their child, their gender identity change or anything like that at school,” she said. “So it completely prohibits educators, teachers, and the school from telling parents about any changes with their child. It also promotes secrecy… taking all of that information away from parents, and it creates a school-level file on the parents, a secret file.”
Amy Bohn, Co-Founder and President of PERK. (Fox News Digital)
Supporters of the bill suggest that students have a right to privacy. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Chris Ward, a Democrat who represents San DiegoThe district says it gives students “the right to decide for themselves when they are willing to share the most personal information about themselves.”
According to Bon, minors do not have the legal right to consent to such decisions.
“I would say the problem is that the child doesn't have the capacity to consent. So every minor has to grow up and develop, and the brain isn't fully developed until they're 25. That's science. So to even think that children have any capacity to consent to something like this without their parents… that's why consent laws exist,” she said. “And parents are supposed to guide, protect, make sure their children aren't being exploited and taken advantage of. I think what he's saying is, frankly, complete nonsense.”
Bohn said she believes Newsom's support for the bill is driven by political expediency.
California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“I think he wants it to be law because I think it's a political move, frankly. And that's also one of the problems with this bill, they're using children in this political game, this political agenda,” she said. “I don't think he's concerned or cares about children. And I think we've seen PERK in California, Newsom is undermining parental rights.”
While AB 1955 was the main issue for PERK this year, the organization was also active in other public policy battles, particularly related to Education Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Bohn has been outspoken in his opposition to mandatory vaccinations in school districts.
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“I don't think schools should have the authority to mandate vaccines because that's a medical treatment. That's something that should be managed by parents and doctors,” she said. “We've actually seen vaccine mandates all over the state of California, including the COVID mandate, and that was illegal on their part. They were bypassing the legislative process and [state] Department of Health.”
PERK has been involved in litigation challenging such policies.
“We have spoken out against it. We have filed lawsuits. We have won those lawsuits, by the way,” Bohn said. “I just don't think mandates have a place anywhere in our society, because if we are to be free, and we are free, then mandates are completely [the] “opposite of what the Constitution represents.”
Bohn and PERK have also been fighting Newsom and teachers unions over COVID shutdowns.
California State Capitol building in Sacramento. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)
“So from the very beginning, when we heard Governor Newsom say it would take two weeks to slow the spread of the virus and that schools would be closed, we looked at each other and [we knew] “It's going to take a year or more,” she said. “Immediately, within two weeks, we sent a letter to Governor Newsom and the legislature saying, 'This is bad policy. We can already tell you how this is going to hurt kids.'”
Bon added: “You shouldn't implement solutions like that.” blocking measuresespecially with regard to children. So we immediately started to push back at the highest level. Then we told the parents, “This is what’s happening. This is how this is going to hurt your families, your children, their education and their academics, and the academic losses that we were expecting,” and we engaged the parents in pushing back.”
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PERK is credited with organizing local protests and activism at school board meetings after long closures.
“So we actually brought a lot of parents and people to school board meetings to urge schools to reopen as soon as possible. We did surveys. We filed lawsuits. We did a lot of work in that area to try to help schools reopen,” Bohn said. “And we’ve been very active in representing hundreds of thousands of families and kids who needed to get those schools open.”
Newsom's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.