Parents’ bill of rights in Kansas should include equal access to children for shared custody

By Will Mitchell

The Kansas Senate voted to pass SB 496, establishing a parents’ bill of rights for students in education across the state.

As an educator and parent, I applaud our senators for listening to the people in recognizing the importance of the role parents play in their children’s lives. However, it seems SB 496 has missed a major opportunity to include what should be the most basic and fundamental right of any parental bill of rights: Good parents should be allowed equal access to their children.

A poll taken only two years ago showed over 80% of Kansans supported a presumption of shared parenting in our family courts. Sens. Richard Hilderbrand and Oletha Faust-Goudeau reached across the aisle to lead a successful movement that resulted in the Senate passing SB 157 by an overwhelming margin of 39 to 1.