Back in May, before critical race theory was all that much in the news, I wrote an op-ed for the political website, The Hill, where I argued that parental objections to CRT and indoctrination in our children’s schools was something far more than a political split between Republicans and Democrats. It was a movement of passionate parents, from the left, the right and the center. Parents who want their kids to be taught math, and English and history, not have their kindergarteners be demonized for the color of their skin, their middle schoolers be shown graphic pornography, or their high schoolers be taught that America is an irredeemably racist and evil country.
Nowhere have we seen this fight over education play out more publicly than in the state of Virginia. Suburban Loudoun County has become the epicenter of the country’s battle over public schools, with raucous school board meetings and near nonstop media attention. And now we await the results of today’s Virginia gubernatorial election between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat and former governor, Terry McAuliffe.
Less than two months ago, polls showed McAuliffe up 5 points in a race that was supposed to be a Democratic cakewalk. After all, Virginia is a state that Biden won by 10 points. Today, polls show that the race is a dead heat. What happened in the interim was all about the culture war over our nation’s deteriorating education system.
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."
Those few words, spoken by McAuliffe during the second and final gubernatorial debate on September 28 was the first major turning point. Even more than that, those words perfectly capture the schism that exists between those of us who view parents as having the ultimate responsibility for the education of their children, and those who view children as belonging to the state.
The following day, the uproar of parents in Virginia and everywhere else was galvanized even further by the labeling of everyday moms and dads as “domestic terrorists.”
As you probably remember, on September 29, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) wrote a letter addressed to the President of the United States, asking the President for, “federal law enforcement…to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation…because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula. The propaganda continues despite the fact that critical race theory is not taught in public schools and remains a complex law school and graduate school subject well beyond the scope of a K-12 class.”
Yes, we’ve heard these lines before. CRT is propaganda. CRT is a complex law school topic not taught in K-12 schools. Really? Tell that to our kids who have been made to fill out surveys that label them as oppressors because of the color of their skin.
Then there was the kicker. The NSBA letter went on to request, “the expertise and resources of the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service,” and the use of the PATRIOT Act to help deal with these threats, and in its most infamous line, likens the actions of parents to “domestic terrorism.” Five days later, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum in response to the NSBA letter directing the FBI to start addressing these parental threats.
This obvious attempt to bully parents into silence using the full might of the federal government predictably failed. Instead, the NSBA letter, and Merrick Garland’s response, helped awaken and motivate parents, as we’ve seen very clearly in Virginia. After a vociferous outcry led by organizations like Parents Defending Education and No Left Turn in Education, 23 state boards disavowed the letter, and 5 stated that they would end their association altogether with the NSBA. On October 22, The NSBA itself apologized for sending it, stating that, “there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.” Meanwhile it became publicly known that the most egregious act of parental disobedience used to justify the NSBA letter was, in fact, that of a Loudoun County Dad, who’s daughter had been sexually assaulted by a biological male wearing a skirt, in a transgender bathroom, an incident that the school board had tried to cover up.
Parents are fed up. And not just about CRT. Parents are fed up with schools being closed, with abusive mask mandates unjustified by any science, with bloated bureaucracies, with money wasted on covid-theater and DEI consultants, and with plummeting educational standards and proficiency. But more than anything else, parents are fed up with being lied to and mocked by the media, by teachers unions, and by politicians.
Regardless of who winds up winning today’s gubernatorial election in Virginia, the political lessons are already clear. Education will continue to be one of the most important political issues going into next year’s midterm elections, and likely beyond. We parents aren’t going away.
X Marks the Spot
I couldn’t resist mentioning this story. The high priest of antiracism, the king of CRT, the anti-capitalist with the $20,000 per hour speaking fee, charlatan of all charlatans, Ibram X. Kendi goofed on Twitter. On October 29, Kendi Tweeted an article from The Hill that showed that more than a third of white students lie about their race on college applications, and more than three-fourths of those who lie are accepted. You see, the oppressors pretend to be oppressed to gain the advantage that the oppressed have over the oppressors.
When the good old Internet pointed out that this Tweet, kind of, sort of, contradicts his whole shtick about white privilege, Kendi promptly deleted the Tweet. Perhaps Kendi now understands what most thinking people understand. Five decades of affirmative action belie the claims of a systemically racist education system. On the other hand, perhaps Kendi would rather keep on picking up those $20,000 speaking fees.
Some personal updates
In the immortal words of Willy Wonka, “So much time and so little to do.”
“Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.”
Perhaps the most frustrating challenge I have faced over the past several months in the fight to save K-12 education is the question of how best to spend my time. There is, quite literally “so much to do.” Thankfully, the army of courageous and concerned parents across the country has exploded. Where there was once few, now there are many. I have had the tremendous fortune to get to work with many of the organizations who are leading this fight, and personally get to know many of the terrific leaders of these organizations.
I’m working with the inimitable Mama Bear extraordinaire, Asra Nomani of Parents Defending Education on a project to expose how parasitic EdTech companies have grown fat and happy gobbling up our tax dollars while pushing disastrous social emotional learning (SEL) on our kids and collecting highly intrusive data in the process. The rot is deep, really deep. Please send any tips our way.
I’m working with the organization, Parents Unite, to help fight for diversity of thought and against indoctrination in private schools. While the issues affecting private schools are similar to those in publics, the tactics to effectuate change are very different.
I’ve helped co-found a new group, the Institute for Liberal Values, a consortium of organizations all sharing the mission of fostering classical liberal and Enlightenment values, and fighting illiberal and divisive ideologies like CRT in education and in many other institutions of our country.
I’m collaborating with my friend, Paul Rossi on a number of projects. Paul, you may recall, is the courageous math teacher who spoke out publicly against CRT in the prestigious New York City private school where he used to teach. We are working on piloting an afterschool program for high school students to help un-indoctrinate them from what they are being spoon fed in school, to teach them some of the foundations of history, government, civics and philosophy, and to encourage them to be leaders in their schools in the fight for good morals, free speech and free thought. We’re also working on a project to make it easier for parents to homeschool their children, something desperately needed to help get families out of the public school system.
I’m also trying to make progress on starting a new high school in Manhattan. While we certainly need to expend efforts to try to fix existing institutions, it is abundantly clear that we also need to build new ones. I want to re-think high school with a strong focus on history, civics, classical literature and classical liberal values. I’m currently in the early stages of looking for real estate and thinking about curriculum. I know this is a daunting task but I am comforted by the tremendously positive feedback I have received from parents, teachers and philanthropists. This project will take a village, so if you want to get involved, let me know!
And a couple of other things that I hope to share soon.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, or would like to get involved in anything I’ve mentioned, please contact me through the website: speakupforeducation.org or email me at andrew@speakupforeducation.org. You can also follow me on Twitter @AndrewGutmann.
Until next time…
Outstanding article. Thank you! Keep up the superb work. Parents need you.
Well done friend...Keep up the fight!