Kansas hearing on SB 76 pits parental-rights and teacher free-speech arguments against student privacy and safety concerns

Chairwoman Carolyn Estes convened a Senate Committee on Education hearing on Senate Bill 76, known in testimony as the Given Name Act, which would restrict school employees from addressing K‑12 students by a pronoun or name that differs from the name on a student’s birth certificate without written parental permission and would create a private right of action for alleged violations.

The bill’s reviser, Jason, told the committee that “Senate bill 76 would enact a given name act, regarding the use of pronouns and, proper names of students in school districts and at post secondary educational institutions.” He summarized the measure’s core provisions, including a statutory cause of action allowing an aggrieved person to sue a school district, post‑secondary institution or individual employee for injunctive relief or monetary damages and to recover reasonable attorney’s fees. He said the Senate amended the measure so that the parental‑permission requirement in subsection b applies only to minor students in the K‑12 setting, while subsection c preserves protections from adverse employment action for employees who decline to use inconsistent pronouns or names. Jason said the bill passed the Senate on a final vote of 26 to 14 and “would go into effect this July 1, and therefore, would be in effect for the 2025–2026 school year.”

Why it matters

Proponents argued the bill protects parents’ authority and teachers’ First Amendment rights; opponents said it would harm transgender and gender‑expansive students, undermine privacy, and invite litigation.

Supporters included parents and conservative policy groups who said district policies or practices had sometimes kept parents uninformed. Brittany Jones, director of policy engagement at Kansas Family Voice, said the bill is “a…