Governor defends mental health mandate, rejects parental consent plan

By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, who represents the 15th Congressional district in southeastern Illinois, is reintroducing legislation to “strengthen parental rights” following the state’s new law mandating mental health screenings for public school students.

The Parents Opt-In Protection Act would require written parental consent before schools conduct mental health or sensitive-topic surveys, replacing Illinois’ current opt-out system under SB1560 starting in 2027–2028. Asked why she didn’t move to ban school-based screenings outright, Miller pointed to constitutional limits on federal authority.

“I would love to see that, but I think it needs to be done at the state level. My bill, the Parents Opt-In Protection Act, amends the existing Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, which governs surveys and evaluations covering topics like religion, sex, politics, and guns. Since I’m working at the federal level, there’s a concern about violating the 10th Amendment, so I’m revising an existing federal law,” said Miller. “I fully support a state-level ban, but since that isn’t happening, we can use this law to protect parents and get it passed federally.”

Pritzker’s office slammed Miller, accusing her of politicizing a bipartisan effort to address the nation’s mental health crisis and highlighting that she has “repeatedly voted to slash funding for public schools.”

“As more students experience depression, anxiety, and other struggles, Rep. Miller and her GOP allies are stigmatizing young people instead of offering support,” a Governor’s spokesman told The Center Square. “While Rep. Miller repeatedly voted to slash funding for public schools and backed the Trump Administration’s cuts to stop schools from hiring mental health professionals, Gov. Pritzker has been focused on giving families more options and tools to help students succeed.”

Miller fired back, saying the governor should look closer at his own record.

“It’s shameful that he is overseeing the state of Illinois, and our schools are failing at their fundamental task, which is teaching children to read,” Miller said. “Illinois’ literacy rates are 39% or lower, pitiful. So why are we going to put them in charge of medical oversight?”

Miller criticized SB1560 for its confusing opt-out system.

“I hate the opt-out thing because parents are always the last to know,” she said. “Most parents, they’re super busy, and they think their kids are in school being educated, not indoctrinated. My bill is going to require the schools to get written consent from parents before they conduct these screenings, which will be part of the children’s permanent record.”

Supporters of Miller’s legislation argue it restores parental authority where state leaders have overstepped.

David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, said the bill is “absolutely huge” because it flips Illinois’ opt-out law into an opt-in standard.

“There’s a lot of oblivious parents who are too busy to really take notice of what’s going on in the classrooms,” Smith said. “Now, with this law, it would require them to literally sign off on it before subjecting their children to humanistic mental health screenings.”

Miller told The Center Square that existing Illinois law will lead to “lack of medical oversight” and a potential for over-diagnosis, wrongly labeling children.

Smith said he’s working with Debbie Kraulidis, vice president, chief events officer, host of Moms For America podcast, to reach Secretary of Education Linda McMahon because Smith fears Illinois will inspire other states to adopt similar legislation.

“It’s the job of parents, and their priests and pastors, to care for a child’s mental and physical well-being. The school’s job is academics: preparing kids to be fruitful, productive members of society who can read, write, and do arithmetic,” Smith told The Center Square.