On Wednesday, the House Committee on Education & Workforce held its first hearing since President Donald Trump took office.
This hearing cames as reports indicated that Trump could do away with the federal Department of Education over their role in pushing “woke” policies in America’s schools.
In the hearing, “The State of American Education,” Nicki Neily, the president and founder of Parents Defending Education (PDE) pointed out that schools in America nowadays are in crisis for many reasons. For starters, schools are more focused on indoctrinating children with woke curriculum on race and sexuality. In addition, Neily revealed that the Chinese government has been working to immerse in American schools to “brainwash” children.
“Children are regularly treated differently based on race…80 years after Brown v. Board of Education, segregated activities persist in the form of affinity groups…the diversity industrial complex promotes programs like this…Districts pay DEI consultants millions per year, incentivized by the billions of dollars in education grants awarded by the Biden administration over the past four years,” she said, before delving in how school districts did not stop anti-semitism from spreading following Hamas’ barbaric attack on Israel in 2023.
“From lesson plans about settler colonialism to swastikas on mirrors dismissed as ‘Buddhist religious symbols,’ districts’ lackadaisical response to Jew hatred bore a sharp contrast to the anti-racism fervor following George Floyd’s murder,” Neily said.
“Foreign funding remains problematic. Our investigation into Confucius Classrooms found districts around the country with ties to CCP-linked entities,” she explained, before adding that schools are becoming more like the Soviet Union.
“Families are treated as enemies. Trust between families and districts is fractured. Rather than partnering with parents, schools work against them. Families are being shut out of their children’s lives. PDE has identified over 1,100 districts around the country…with parental exclusion policies,” she said.
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“The country’s equity experiment has been an unequivocal failure,” she said. “Although battered, the American education system is not beyond repair.”
American education has been battered — but it's not beyond repair.
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) February 5, 2025
I had the opportunity to speak before the the House Education & Workforce Committee to discuss how we can get our education system back on track. pic.twitter.com/yQ7m1yKk7v
Later on, Neily mentioned that at least 143 school districts in 34 states have ties to the CCP.
“We don’t actually really know what’s being taught…and what our children have access to behind our backs,” she said.
🚨 @nickineily sounds the alarm on China's "little red classrooms" — Chinese Communist Party attempts to embed in our children's schools and brainwash our kids. pic.twitter.com/f0ICSsmSu8
— House Committee on Education & Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) February 5, 2025
Townhall previously reported that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), which is part of Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, received hundreds of thousands of dollars from groups affiliated with China’s military. This was unveiled by PDE.
PDE has also uncovered how many districts will allow students to “transition” to the opposite gender unbeknownst to their parents.
There are three things we need to focus on to protect our students and our national security: transparency, notification, and consequences. pic.twitter.com/rIFxx3mbfm
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) February 5, 2025
The education industrial complex wants to teach students what ‘society’ needs them to know, not what is in the parents’ interests.
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) February 5, 2025
As a result, parents are shut out of the discussions about their children’s education. pic.twitter.com/KmRkvG05MQ
Parents’ Bill of Rights is a great first step! pic.twitter.com/QLr2In64EZ
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) February 5, 2025
After her testimony, Neily offered the following to Townhall:
“There’s much work to be done to get the American education system back on track, and today the House Education Committee showed that they’re ready to do the heavy lifting needed to execute the President’s agenda. While uprooting and defunding wasteful, damaging programs is one part of the equation, it’s critical that we also reorient instruction towards the mastery of core subjects. Legislation, fiscal accountability, and oversight are all going to be critical tools in this fight - and we look forward to working closely with members to deliver for students and families."
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