It is hard to believe that it has now been nearly three weeks since I announced my candidacy for Congress in my new home state of Florida. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming. I am grateful to so many of you who have contributed to our campaign and who have sent heartwarming words of encouragement. Thank you!
Our campaign launch has vastly exceeded our expectations. We received media attention from media outlets including the NY Post, Bari Weiss’s the Free Press, Legal Insurrection and a variety of Florida publications. I did an appearance on Fox News talking about my congressional run as well as a number of radio programs. Look out for more pieces in the media soon.
We’re also getting attention and support from some of the most significant Republican donors in the country, and are on the radar of people at the highest level of Republican politics. As I mentioned in my last Substack, the district for which I am running has never before had a Republican candidate who can win a general election. There is enormous excitement for my candidacy, as I can appeal to not only Republicans but to the district’s Independents and moderate Democrats.
As I also wrote last time, fundraising, more than anything else, is how our campaign will be measured in this first stage. We need to raise $250,000 by the end of June in order to demonstrate our traction. We are well on our way to that goal but every dollar helps. If you haven’t already, please consider donating.
We’d also like to grow our campaign’s brand new social media accounts. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
The only bad news I have to share is that I may not have as much time over the coming months for the long, thoughtful pieces I love writing on this Substack. I hope you forgive me for that. Instead, for now, I will use these newsletters to give you some campaign updates, to comment on some news items relating to education and other issues about which I am passionate, and to highlight recent episodes of Take Back Our Schools. Here goes.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a terrific conference in Palm Beach put on by the organization, FreedomWorks. The conference, entitled “Restore Liberty” featured speakers such as New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu, Florida Senator Rick Scott, and members of congress including Chip Roy, Byron Donalds, Thomas Massie and others.
It was wonderful to be in the same room with so many people who care passionately about their country, families and communities, and about free markets and personal liberties. All in all, a great organization and a terrific group of donors and participants.
I also wrote an op-ed in the NY Post talking about Florida’s pushback to the College Board’s Advance Placement curriculum for its African American studies course. As I wrote, “the College Board’s advanced placement courses have effectively become a national curriculum for American high school students who want to pursue four-year college degrees.”
The College Board is effectively an unaccountable monopoly, accountable neither to the states, to parents, or to local school boards. It is about time we have a national conversation about what we should and should not be teaching our children, and about returning control of our children’s education to their parents.
Finally, I share one last piece of distressing education news. The National Assessment of Educational Progress’s “National Report Card” was released earlier this month and showed appalling results for our nation’s students in history and civics. Only 14% of American 8th graders were proficient in history and only 22% were proficient in civics. One wonders, how much worse can American education get?
I haven’t done this in a while, but in case you missed them, here are some of the latest episodes of my podcast, Take Back Our Schools, available on all major podcast outlets, including Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher.
Academic Freedom in the Age of DEI
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, we speak with geophysicist Dorian Abbot, an outspoken activist for academic freedom. Abbot discusses his views on the state of free speech and academic freedom in elite universities in the United States and talks about his own high profile experience of being cancelled from a speech he was supposed to give at MIT because of his outspoken activism against the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) regime. Abbot also shares his scientific views on climate change and whether there is life on other planets.
Dorian Abbot is an associate professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. Dorian is also a member of the Council of the Faculty Senate at the University of Chicago, a co-founder of the faculty group UChicago Free, a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance, and a co-founder and moderator of The Heterodox Academy STEM Community (HxSTEM). He has written and spoken publicly extensively on issues related to academic freedom and was awarded the 2021 Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and the 2022 Courage Award by the Heterodox Academy.
Media and the Parents Movement
On this episode Beth and I speak with Chicago radio host and former Illinois gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft. Proft shares his views on the polarized media environment and how radio has changed in the decade plus that he’s been a talk show host. Moreover, Proft also talks about how the parent’s movement has used media to get the story out on the insanity that is happening in our nation’s schools. Proft gives his take on the recent Chicago mayoral election, what it means for the city and the public school system in the Windy City.
On the episode, we also talk about my recent announcement to run for Congress in my new home state of Florida.
Take Back the Schools, Take Back the Neighborhoods
On this episode of Take Back Our Schools, Beth and I speak with Pastor and community leader, Corey B. Brooks of Chicago. Pastor Brooks discusses the fight against violence gripping the city’s poorest neighborhoods. He talks about how progressive policies over the past 60 years have led to a deterioration of black neighborhoods and the destruction of the traditional family.
Moreover, Pastor Brooks explains how the loss of religion and the deterioration of schools has impacted the community and how that adds to the allure of gangs to young black males. We also discuss Pastor Brook’s efforts to mentor at risk children and his vision for a new Christian charter school for boys, which he hopes to open in 2025.
Pastor Corey B. Brooks, founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and founder and CEO of Project H.O.O.D. Communities Development Corporation has become a leading voice and presence in the fight against the violence gripping Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. Pastor Brook’s efforts received national acclaim when he spent 94 days living on the roof of a rundown motel located across the street from the church.
Stolen Youth
On this episode, we speak with journalist and author Karol Markowicz, who discusses her brand new book, Stolen Youth, which details how our nation’s children have been under siege from Covid restrictions and the left’s political indoctrination in schools. She also shares her view on what parents must do to raise their own children given today’s political climate and how they can help the fight within their kids’ schools.
Karol talks about her own upbringing in the Soviet Union and her experiences as an immigrant to the United States living the American Dream. She also talks about the motivations behind her own family’s move from New York City to Florida.
Markowicz is a weekly Columnist at the New York Post and Fox News, Contributing Editor at The Spectator and a Contributing Writer to Washington Examiner magazine. She now lives in South Florida with her husband and three children.
I hope you enjoy these episodes of Take Back Our Schools. As always, please subscribe and share any ideas or suggestions, including for podcast guests. You can contact me through the website: speakupforeducation.org or email me at andrew@speakupforeducation.org. I am also on Twitter @AndrewGutmann.
Keep up the great work and welcome to Florida!
Andrew- You are amazing! Many thanks for taking the bull by the horns and working so hard to help right the ship of education in America. We are all pulling for you. Good luck. Keep us all posted!