Gov. Brian Kemp signed seven education bills Thursday morning including one banning so-called “divisive concepts” in the classroom and one creating a parental bill of rights.
Channel 2′s Richard Elliot spoke with some parents who say those bills are intended only to get Kemp reelected.
The new laws will affect elementary schools and high schools all over Georgia.
Kemp said the laws should not be controversial, but Democrats say they are.
“We weren’t elected by the people of this state to shy away from doing what some may call controversial,” Kemp said.
Dozens joined the governor in Forsyth County as he signed the seven education bills into law including the one which prohibits teachers from talking about nine divisive concepts including issues involving race unless it is in an academic context.
It also creates a parent’s bill of rights, creates a procedure that transgender girls must go through to play girls’ sports and also bans so-called obscene material from school libraries.
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“It ensures all of our state and nation’s history is taught accurately, because here in Georgia, our classrooms will not be pawns of those who want to indoctrinate our kids with their partisan political agenda,” Kemp said.
But his political rivals disagree.
In a statement, Republican David Perdue said Kemp’s bills “miss the mark. His Parents’ Bill of Rights doesn’t have any teeth.”
At an ethnic media roundtable in Suwanee, Kemp and Perdue’s Democratic rival, Stacey Abrams accused the divisive concepts law of being government sanctioned lying.
“We should never sign legislation that authorizes lying to our children, because that’s what this is,” Abrams said.
Across the street from Kemp’s bill signing, Georgia Democrats presented some Forsyth County parents who criticized the new laws.
“It feels like a political stunt, and we are here because we want to make it known that this is not what Forsyth County parents want,” parent Laura McConn said.
The new laws drew praise from Conservative groups like the Georgia Baptist Convention and drew criticism from groups like the ACLU.
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