LANSING — “Parental rights,” an issue that has been championed by conservative politicians in recent years, was born out of frustration over COVID-19 related mask and vaccine mandates in public schools.

A Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced in Congress in 2023 and says “the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children is a fundamental right.”

One of the taglines of the parental rights group Moms for Liberty, which has 10 Michigan chapters and was founded in 2021, is “we don’t co-parent with the government.”

The 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tudor Dixon — who lost to incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by over 10% of the vote — campaigned on the issue. And “parental rights” champions have won school board seats across the state.

Now ahead of upcoming school board and state Board of Education elections in November, parental rights advocates’ gripes with public education no longer focus on COVID-19 policies.

Instead, they focus primarily on what kids are taught about race, gender and sexuality.

The two Republican state Board of Education members are the only two on the eight-person board whose seats will be up for election this year. They are Tom McMillin of Oakland Township and Nikki Snyder of Dexter.

Walled Lake is home to one of Michigan’s Moms for Liberty chapters. That city falls in the district represented by Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake.

Runestad said his constituents tell him the parental rights movement is a response to “rogue teachers” who “prophetize” about their cultural identity.