Education

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to talk about America's education system.

As a result of the pandemic, parents have had a front-row seat to their kids' education. Parents are now engaged with their kids' schools much more than ever before. Many parents have had to make tough decisions about a number of things during the pandemic, but especially about their children's education.

Yet parental involvement, I believe, is a good thing for kids in our schools. The more parental involvement, the better. Parents deserve a say in what their kids learn and how best to learn it.

But all across America, school boards and teachers unions and city councils have been outraged to see parents involved as they have been.

Many parents are furious right now. In many cases, they have found out their kids were spending more time on liberal ideology than they were on science or on math.

Earlier this year, the State of California proposed teaching math-- hard to believe, but this is what they said--from a social justice perspective--math from a social justice perspective.

Parents, appropriately, were furious, and the proposal was not rejected completely, but just postponed until next year.

Oregon now allows students to graduate--graduate--without proving they are proficient in reading, in writing, or in math.

San Francisco schools spent the entire last year closed, yet the San Francisco school board had spare time to propose changing the name of Abraham Lincoln High School. Kids are not in school, but the school board had plenty of time to consider and propose changing the name of Abraham Lincoln High School.

Well, parents, again, were enraged and this proposal was dropped.

It is very obvious why so many parents all across the country are so angry right now. They work hard. They pay their taxes. And what they see day in and day out are Democratic politicians hurting their kids' future, getting in the way of the education that parents believe their children need.

Last week, we saw even more proof. The Department of Education published the National Assessment of Educational Progress. It comes out every 5 years. It was time. It is the Nation's report card. This year's report card shows test scores in math and in reading have plummeted. This was the first time these scores have dropped in 50 years.

The lesson is obvious: We are spending too much time away from the things that students ought to be spending their time on. We need to spend less time on ideology, more time on education of the basics--real knowledge, real skills.

Many school boards across the country refuse to listen. In fact, the National School Boards Association complained to the Biden administration about angry parents. Now the Attorney General is treating angry parents like criminals. The Attorney General of the United States is deciding that angry parents are to be treated like criminals. Attorney General Garland has ordered Federal prosecutors to work with local police to form ``strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.''

The Department of Justice says it will form a task force on these alleged threats against school boards. The task force is going to include representatives from the Department's Criminal Division, from the National Security Division, the Civil Rights Division, and Federal prosecutors, as well as the FBI.

Joe Biden is sending in the cavalry to school board meetings to focus on parents rather than focusing on the education the children need and deserve. He is sending the National Security Division after moms and dads because they are concerned about their children's education.

After the Attorney General's order, I joined with 10 of my Republican colleagues and demanded a legal justification from Attorney General Garland. I still haven't received a response.

We have also found out that Attorney General Garland has a family member who helps schools develop leftwing curriculum. The Attorney General's family member is helping schools developing leftwing curriculum. The Attorney General's son-in-law owns a company with millions and millions of dollars in government contracts--contracts by the Attorney General's son-in-law--contracts with schools all across America.

Well, maybe it is a coincidence, and maybe it is not. Attorney General Garland needs to tell the American people whether this played a role in his decision to treat parents like criminals.

Yet the problem is much bigger than the Attorney General of the United States. The problem is how Democrats treat and think about parents and working families.

The former Governor of the State of Virginia said recently:

I don't think parents should be telling schools what they can teach.

This is the former Governor of Virginia:

I don't think parents should be telling schools what they can teach.

Last month, Senator Mike Braun asked the Secretary of Education about the role of parents in education. He asked if parents were ``the primary stakeholder'' in their kids' education.

Secretary Cardona said this: ``They're an important stakeholder.''

In other words, they are not the primary stakeholders. Parents are not the primary stakeholders.

Is it any surprise so many parents are deciding to educate their children at home?

So who does the Secretary of Education think is the primary educator of our children? The union bosses? Are they the primary educators of our children?

Democrats act like kids are the property of the schools. And schools, of course, are the property--in the minds of the Democrats--of the teachers unions. Parents have every right to be upset with what is happening in the public schools all across this Nation. Parents have every right to demand real improvements.

It is time for the Democrats to stop taking orders from the teachers unions and start listening to parents and to the students.

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