Last week, thousands of families raised awareness about K-12 education options forNational School Choice Week. As Republicans, we stand with them. We believe parents are best equipped to understand their child’s learning needs and that every student deserves the chance to thrive academically. Unfortunately, Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t agree.
As a candidate, Biden promised that charter schools would be “gone” if he were elected president. And now that he’s in office, Biden’s administration is working against parents and students. Biden’s position is radically out of step with the millions of American families who have benefitted from some kind of school choice option. If the past 22 months have shown us anything, it’s that school choice and empowered parents are needed more than ever.
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country, schools of all stripes switched to online learning. But while private and charter schools quickly returned to classroom learning, many public schools have continued to switch between virtual and in-person learning—even though the virus doesn’t pose a serious threat to children. The instability is taking a toll. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 97%of educators “saw some learning loss” over the past year. A McKinsey report found that students will lose around $60,000 in lifetime earnings due to the loss of learning this year. Black students will be hurt by this the most: the same study projected a3.3% loss of income a year in their adult lives.
Still, Biden has deepened this learning gap by advancing policies that closed many schools this spring. Earlier this month, more than7,000 public schools closed their doors to in-person learning because of the Omicron variant, and members of Chicago’s teachers union switched to remote learning. Teachers’ unions in Democrat strongholds like Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. also threatened to strike if their demands were not met. To make matters worse, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona even hinted at more “emergency” closures.
It isn’t just the pandemic that has highlighted the need for school choice. As students began attending class from home, many parents were shocked by the leftist propaganda being taught to their children. Critical Race Theory, a Marxist-rooted ideology that divides Americans by skin color, has popped up in many schools across America. Its supporters claim that America is irredeemably racist and must be rebuilt—a notion central to The New York Times’s 1619 Project, which has been adopted by some4,500 schools.
On top of that, inappropriate and sexually explicit content masquerading as “sex ed” has parents rightfully outraged. In New Jersey, new curriculum standards – praised by Planned Parenthood and other far-left special interest groups – require that students as young as five years old are taught about “abortion as an option for pregnancy.”In New York, a Democrat lawmaker is pushing to make children as young as eight learn about “hormone blockers.” And in Virginia, a school library included books on sexually explicit subjects and didn’t bother to alert parents.
It’s no wonder parents all over America are pushing back against this radical agenda. And yet, Democrats like former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe had the audacity to assert,"I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Biden administration would potentially prosecute parents worried about their kids' curriculum. Whistleblower emails later revealed that the FBI created a “threat tag” to track concerned parents, even though the agency previously denied using tools that normally target terrorists against parents.
As a mom myself, this is infuriating. Parents know what their child needs better than a bureaucrat ever will. That’s why Republicans across all levels of government are working to empower families through school choice. The Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunities Act, a key Trump administration priority, has once again been introduced in Congress to extend school choice to thousands of families who cannot currently afford to escape failing public schools. In addition, more than 20 states—the majority of which have Republican-controlled state legislatures—broadened, created, or improved their school choice policies last year.
National School Choice Week is a chance to celebrate these pro-education initiatives. They’ve been a godsend for countless families trapped in failing schools. As we prepare for the 2022 midterm elections, the Republican Party will fight to ensure parents are empowered, choice in education is possible, and students are celebrated.
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