Parents Defending Education
This content was last updated March 26, 2024, 9:57 p.m. UTC
Parents Defending Education (PDE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2021 that self-describes as a “national grassroots organization” who say they are “working to reclaim… schools from activists promoting harmful agendas.” In reality, PDE opposes what they describe as “indoctrination of controversial ideas,” such as critical race theory and open discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity with students.
Instead of making up the learning loss that was forced upon our children from keeping schools closed for two years at the administration's behest, we have them spending hours a day on identity politics. We have a mental health crisis in this country, and children... are being told that they're bad people, or that they might be born in the wrong body.
PDE president and founder Nicki Neily in a June 15th, 2023, interview with Tony Perkins
Founding
PDE was founded in January of 2021 by current president Nicole Neily, who was previously a Senior Fellow at anti-transgender think tanks Independent Women’s Forum and the Cato Institute, and the president and founder of Speech First, an organization allegedly in support of students’ free speech which has sued colleges over anti-bias policies.
PDE received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in July of 2021.
Finances
According to PDE’s public tax records for 2021 and 2022, they receive the majority of their income through donations from undisclosed contributors.
In 2021, PDE received donations in excess of $3.1 million, claiming expenses of $2.93 million and net assets of $242,345. Their notable expenses were executive compensation, fundraising fees, and other salaries and wages. Listed employees who received financial compensation from the organization were President Nicole Neily, who received $192,500, and then Vice President Asra Nomani, who received $109,178.
In 2022, PDE’s received donations in excess of $4.25 million, failing again to disclose the identity of any of their contributors. Their expense categories remained the same, though they expended $4.45 million, nearly double the previous year’s expenses. They ended the year with $92,195 in net assets, and compensated president Nicole Neily $295,000, and Director of Outreach Erika Sanzi $129,167.
PDE’s website features a donation page where people can make contributions to the organization.
History of Anti-LGBTQ+ Activism
PDE has filed or participated in dozens of lawsuits against school districts, typically by filing amicus briefs, though most specifically relate to matters of race, not the LGBTQ+ community. They have, however, involved themselves in cases regarding parents’ rights to know when their children have discussed their gender identity with school staff.
After the Linn Mar Community School District in Iowa adopted a policy entitled “Administrative Regulations Regarding Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes,” in April of 2022, which set forth rules and regulations regarding transgender and gender non-conforming students “to ensure a safe, affirming, and healthy school environment where every student can learn effectively,” PDE brought action against Linn Mar in an attempt to have the policy repealed. The policy was rescinded in March of 2023, and in February of 2024 Linn Mar agreed to pay PDE $20,000 to settle the lawsuit.
In May of 2023, PDE filed suit against the Olentangy Local School District in Ohio regarding a school district policy prohibiting discriminatory language inside or outside of school. They argued that instructing students to use their peers’ preferred names and pronouns constituted compelled speech, and thus violated those students’ constitutional rights. The case is still being argued as of February, 2024.
In September of 2023, PDE filed in amicus brief in Doe v. Horne, a suit brought against the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction regarding Arizona’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which denied transgender girls to compete in school sports at any level in the state. Like many anti-transgender legal activist groups before them, PDE argued that Title IX does not protect transgender students, despite repeated insistence to the contrary by the federal government.
In November of 2023, PDE filed an amicus brief in the case Metropolitan School District of Martinsville v. A.C., in which a transgender student filed suit against the school district for refusing to let him use the boys’ bathroom at school. PDE again argues that Title IX protections only apply to cisgender students.