The Coronavirus pandemic shifted the norms both inside of and outside of our schools, but the virus has not changed the needs of students and the rights of parents in education.
Parents have to be the ultimate guide in their children’s education, not teachers’ unions or DoE bureaucrats. But as voters saw in the Virginia gubernatorial race, national Democrats are hellbent on keeping parents’ input out of the classroom.
When did parental rights in the classroom become a partisan issue?
This shift in discourse, making our childrens’ education the latest political football, proves one thing: expanded school choice is needed, and fast. School choice is the only way to ensure that parents’ voices are heard fairly and that students are able to receive a world-class education.
School choice empowers parents by giving them the autonomy to make the best educational decisions for their children, with respect to which schools they enroll in. No one knows the individual needs of a student better than that student’s parent - and school choice equips parents to find the resources needed to give their child the best education possible.
The failings of not tailoring education to the needs of the individual student was on full display last school year. At the direction of President Biden, teachers’ unions were allowed to heavily influence the guidance issued for a delayed return to in-person learning, despite scientific evidence indicating that a full return to the classroom was safe. Our children were kept at home and subject to virtual learning for over a year, robbing them of a year of in-person learning, a year of social interaction, a year of being a kid.
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Of course, before the pandemic became reality, Democrats acted at the behest of the teachers unions funding their campaigns - perhaps the reason why parental rights became the new frontier of the political battlefield.
The monopoly created by hyper-politicized teachers unions, supported by Democrats for decades, works harder to score political points than it does providing teachers fair representation or our students an excellent education. Instead, good-quality teachers are subject to a hyper-partisan agenda and a union-enforced compensation system that does not benefit young teachers.
As if putting teachers union officials’ wishes over parental rights in educational decisions was not bad enough, the Department of Justice is now targeting concerned parents.
A light is being shone on the indoctrination present in our schools, and parents are waking up. The Biden administration’s response? To weaponize the Department of Justice to directly target parents who are concerned about the indoctrination of their children in the classroom.
Attorney General Merrick Garland is using the taxpayer-funded resources at his disposal as the nation’s top law enforcement officer to classify parents as domestic terrorists for voicing concerns about their children’s education. As a Father of two, this flagrant attack on parental rights is horrifying and frankly Orwellian.
National Democrats have demonstrated time and time again a desire to put their political interests above the best interests of our children. Our children deserve a world-class education tailored to their needs at a school of their choice. Parents deserve to voice concerns without fear of retribution. These solutions are not partisan, and the attempt to make them partisan is a disservice to children and parents in every community throughout the Commonwealth.
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