When a School Forgets the Family: A Letter to Parents After Mahmoud v. Taylor
By a Parent-Leader at Vitae
We founded Vitae because of days like this.
Because the world is changing faster than our children can grow. Because classrooms once meant for wonder, virtue, and truth are now battlegrounds for ideology—and because some of us still believe that parents, not the state, are the first and rightful educators of their children.
This week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case brought by Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian parents in Maryland who are simply asking for something that, until very recently, no one would have dreamed of denying them: the right to excuse their elementary-aged children from storybooks that conflict with their religious beliefs. These are not angry, fringe voices. They are ordinary mothers and fathers—many of them immigrants—pleading for respect, for dignity, and for the freedom to raise their children according to their conscience.
And they have been told no.
The Montgomery County school district had once allowed parents to opt their children out of lessons involving books that introduced and celebrated same-sex romance and gender transition, including Pride Puppy and Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope—the latter about a girl who now identifies as a boy. But in 2023, that opt-out was revoked. Administrators claimed that allowing parents to remove their children “stigmatized” LGBTQ-identifying students and that affirming the diversity of family structures now required full participation from all children—even those whose own families were being redefined in the process (Education Next, 2024).
Let that sink in: families asking for nothing more than the ability to quietly exempt their children from materials that contradict their faith were told they were the problem.
This is not inclusion. It is coercion.
It is a form of cultural bullying dressed in the language of equity. And it is precisely the kind of educational overreach that we at Vitae will never accept.
We exist because we believe that human dignity comes not from state affirmation but from being made in the image and likeness of God. We believe that the moral and intellectual formation of a child is not a function of the state but a vocation of the family. And we believe that any education worthy of the name must respect the boundaries of the family and the freedom of the soul.
This case matters not just because of what happened in Maryland, but because it reveals where the entire system is headed. In Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), the Supreme Court ruled that the state could not force Amish children to attend public high school when it conflicted with their way of life and religious values. Today, parents are asking for far less—and being denied even that. And it’s not just about one book or one lesson. It’s about the philosophy of education itself.
Who decides what your child should celebrate? Who decides what is “developmentally appropriate” when it comes to topics like sex, identity, and family?
If the answer is no longer “you,” then the answer is wrong.
At Vitae, we honor the primacy of the parent. Our programs are designed to come alongside families—not to override them. We believe children can be taught to respect all people without being forced to affirm all ideas. We believe in forming the whole person—mind, body, and soul—in the light of truth, not according to shifting political winds.
And we believe in you.
If you are reading this with a knot in your stomach, wondering whether you are alone in your concerns, let us assure you: you are not. Thousands of families across the country feel the same heartbreak, the same fear, and the same resolve.
It is not “bigoted” to want moral clarity. It is not “hateful” to ask for boundaries. It is not “extreme” to believe that six-year-olds should not be introduced to gender transition through picture books without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
What happened in Maryland is not an isolated incident—it is a signpost. The court’s ruling, expected in 2025, may set a national precedent. But in the meantime, parents must decide how to respond.
At Vitae, we invite you to respond not with despair—but with decision.
Withdraw from schools that refuse to honor your convictions. Demand transparency. Organize with other parents. Choose programs that align with your beliefs. And above all, do not be intimidated by the false choice between silence and hate.
You are your child’s protector. Their first teacher. Their advocate before the world.
And we are here to stand with you.