Democrats Nationalize Education

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Miller for yielding.

Madam Speaker, our Nation's students are the future. They are our future police officers, doctors, technicians, and manufacturers. And to accomplish this, students will need localized education that is sensitive to the thoughts and concerns of students, parents, and teachers. That is the system we have had in the United States of America for many years.

But lo and behold, inside this multitrillion-dollar infrastructure budget reconciliation package that is being crafted right now, as we stand here this evening, there are plans--and I don't want to blow this out of proportion--to nationalize and radicalize our Nation's education system.

The Washington takeover of education would give the Biden administration unprecedented levels of Federal oversight and the ability to approve early education standards and provide childcare to wealthy families while pushing small providers out of the market.

This proposal comes at a time when across the country parents are already feeling a little bit cast aside or excluded from some of the major decisions that are being made in their children's education.

Students are being taught divisive and harmful curriculum. The one that is obviously at the forefront is CRT. When parents come to their local school board meetings to express their concerns, they have been met with hostility, and in some cases--extreme cases--they arrested a parent. It is crazy.

This is especially important for parents in Wisconsin, my home State. Parents are fed up with the bureaucracy telling them they--not the parents--know better. And when parents ask what their children are being taught, they often get a very limited and unsatisfactory response.

So I came up, along with some of my colleagues, with a bill that we thought made sense; very easy, common sunshine-type of bill that ultimately would resolve many of these issues. We call it the CRT Transparency Act.

Madam Speaker, the bill requires schools to post their curriculums online so that parents can see what their students are being taught. Seems simple to me. Just post it online. You have got nothing to hide. It gives the parents the opportunity to see exactly what their children are being taught.

The merits of this bill, I think, would ultimately warrant no controversy. The bill doesn't ask school boards to make private information public. Elementary and secondary curriculums are already public information. The parents who wish to call their school districts and inquire can do that. The problem is, the onus should not be on the parents to jump through hoops to get this information. No matter what the class may be, the bottom line is that the parents have the right to easily access this information.

If schools aren't teaching divisive and backward curriculum, then there should be absolutely no reason not to make this information public. I have spoken to local education leaders back in southeastern Wisconsin, the Fifth Congressional District, who agree with the commonsense sentiment behind the proposals. Unfortunately, I think that President Biden, the Secretary of Education, and the Democrats don't agree, necessarily, with the parents having that much input. They certainly believe that they could bring influence to that entire educational system, which is not something they want.

That is why the attorney general issued a memo instructing the Justice Department to investigate parents speaking up at the local school boards. This is wrong. Despite what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle may believe, parents do have the right to speak up at school board meetings and complain and be vocal about what their children are being taught. In fact, this is the hallmark of being a good parent, right? You just don't want to send your kid off to class and not be involved in what they are involved in every day.

What we saw in Virginia last night sent an undeniably clear message. Those who embrace radical education policies and box out our parents do not represent what the American people want.

My colleagues across the aisle want you to believe that they prioritize students and education, but the text of this budget reconciliation will tell a very different narrative. A narrative that expands the Federal Government's role in education at the expense of good parenting and student outcomes.

I, and I think my Republican colleagues, will oppose any proposal that puts the bureaucracy before students.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source