California Democrat says parents at school board meetings need 'a lesson'

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California state lawmaker says parents at school board meetings need 'a lesson'

California State Senator Connie Leyva made the comment in response to Senator Melissa Melendez's speech in support of her bill, SB-1045 which is aimed at making public school curriculum available for parents to view easily. (Credit: California State Senate)

A California state lawmaker said that parents at school board meetings need to learn "a lesson" during a committee meeting discussing a bill focused on creating more transparency in public school curriculum.

California State Senator Connie Leyva made the comment in response to Senator Melissa Melendez's speech on Wednesday in support of her bill, SB-1045 which is aimed at making public school curriculum available for parents to view easily.

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California State Senator Connie Leyva (California State Senator Connie Leyva)

"I would just have to say that I don't know the last time you attended a school board meeting. But I think parent involvement is essential, but someone needs to give some of these parents a lesson on how to be professional," Leyva said.

She said that some "concerns" people have, are individuals at school board meetings who are "yelling at people" and "screaming at people."

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California State Senator Connie Leyva made the comment in response to Senator Melissa Melendez's speech in support of her bill, SB-1045 which is aimed at making public school curriculum available for parents to view easily. (California State Senate)

"Yelling at people, screaming at people, running up and down the aisles, heckling at people and students who are speaking, I think those are some of the concerns that people have," Leyva said.

"So I agree with you, 100%, that parents should always be involved, but we should be modeling good behavior for our students," she added.

In a comment to Fox News Digital, Melendez said that the incident shows Leyva and other Democrats have "contempt" for parents who exercise their right to be heard.

"Democrats like Senator Leyva have nothing but contempt for parents who exercise their right to be heard, and they’re more than willing to make that contempt known. Unfortunately for Senator Leyva and those who think like her, parents have no intention of being silenced," Melendez said.

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Jonathan Zachreson, founder of Reopen CA Schools, told Fox News Digital that Leyva could have been taking a few extreme examples from school board meetings across the country to justify her opposition to this bill. He said that the school board meetings he attends on a day-to-day basis are not as Leyva describes them.

"The vast majority of board meetings I see and attend to on a day-to-day basis are just fine. And yeah, parents can sometimes be stern, but they're not, you know, crazy running down the aisles, you know, heckling," Zachreson said. 

Fox News has reached out to Leyva but has not heard back.