Tom Tiffany puts parental rights in writing for Wisconsin schools

Wisconsin parents have a right to know what happens in their child's school, and Tom Tiffany put that right in writing on Oct. 22, 2026. The Republican candidate for governor announced his Parents and Teachers' Bill of Rights that day in Franklin¹. It came one day after the race's only debate with Democrat David Crowley, where education took center stage². At a Green Bay event that afternoon, Tiffany laid out the plan. The campaign posted its video laying out the plan on Oct. 23³.

That is a standard a parent can hold a school to. What would the plan require a school to do? It starts with consent.

Schools would need parents’ consent

In Troxel v. Granville in 2000, the Supreme Court described parents' care, custody and control as “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests.”⁴ Tiffany's plan turns that tradition into a school rule: schools must obtain parents' consent before changing a student's name or pronouns or providing medical services¹.

Consent comes before the school acts, not in a report afterward. Rep. Robert Wittke, the author of the bill, said at the Oct. 22 event that the legislation came from "feedback from parents about how their rights were being disrespected, how they didn't have equal footing with school districts¹." Equal footing means the parent decides first, and the school follows.

Parents need more than school ratings

Tiffany cited Department of Public Instruction figures showing that 94 percent of districts are meeting or exceeding expectations, yet only 31 percent of Wisconsin's fourth-graders read proficiently². The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that the 2024-25 report cards show 94% of 378 public school districts met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations¹. How does a district earn that label when fewer than a third of its fourth-graders can read at grade level?

Tiffany would replace the one-to-five-star ratings with A-to-F letter grades based on performance¹. The plan adds curriculum access and twice-yearly academic progress updates, so a parent sees the lessons and the results³. Wendy Peterson, a Winneconne parent who spoke at the event, refused her son's request to use female names and pronouns and said the school district still allowed it. State Rep. Joy Goeben, a Hobart Republican who sponsored parental bill-of-rights bills, said at the event: "Parents cannot protect their children if they are kept in the dark²." A family's authority cannot depend on whether a district chooses to volunteer what it knows.

The plan protects girls and parental authority

Tiffany said his plan "will protect girls’ sports and private spaces by banning biological males from girls’ sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms⁵." It would also prohibit sex-change procedures for minors³. The Supreme Court held in United States v. Skrmetti, decided June 18, 2025, that Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors to enable an identity inconsistent with their biological sex satisfies rational-basis review⁶. The plan would also stop taxpayers from stocking tampons in boys' public school bathrooms¹.

Crowley's answer on sports is to "ensure games are safe and fair by trusting local sports associations to set the rules⁵." That hands a girl's place on the team to whoever writes the rule in her county, and gives her parents no standard to hold anyone to.

Tiffany would also let teachers remove students whose violent or disruptive behavior threatens classroom safety or disrupts instruction. Schools would need behavior intervention plans before those students return¹. A teacher who cannot keep order cannot teach, and every other child in the room pays for it.

Wisconsin parents should demand enforceable rights

Wisconsin has seen this fight before. Some of Tiffany's proposed changes mirror a Republican bill that Gov. Tony Evers has twice vetoed, in two different legislative sessions. Wittke put the result plainly: "the governor used his veto pen, and we're back to square one¹." Tiffany's plan also lists school district accountability requirements³. A right with no consequence for ignoring it is a suggestion, so the next Legislature should write the rights into law and make districts answer when they break them.

Parents should put four questions to every candidate and legislator, and ask for a yes or no. Will you keep boys out of girls' sports, locker rooms and bathrooms? Will you prohibit sex-change procedures for minors? Will you sign a bill that makes districts answerable when they hide decisions from a family?

Sources

1. Tom Tiffany outlines 'parental bill of rights,' education changes
2. Tiffany announces parental 'Bill of Rights' to ban transgender sports, pronoun changes - WPR
3. @TiffanyWarRoom on X, 2026-10-23: 🚨 WATCH: Tom Tiffany lays out his plan for a Parent's and Teacher's Bill of Rights: 👪 Parent's Bill of Rights: Honest A-F school report cards, curriculum access, parental notification and consent requirements, school safety notifications, and twice-yearl, 2026-10-23
4. Justia Supreme Court opinions
5. Tiffany unveils ‘Parents and Teacher Bill of Rights’ in Bellevue
6. Supreme Court opinion (No. 23-477)