Republican Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel took aim at Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for the state’s Education Department listing the New York Times’s 1619 Project curriculum as a teaching resource.
The inclusion of the Pulitzer Center’s 1619 Project curriculum was included in an Education Department social studies newsletter in November 2019 and remains on the website. The 1619 Project is regularly criticized by academics and conservatives for historical inaccuracies and its cultural messages.
“It is outrageous that Governor DeWine is encouraging our schools to incorporate the 1619 Project as a teaching resource and have it linked on a taxpayer funded website. Parents everywhere are opposed to this far-left, revisionist agenda being forced on our kids, and this is yet another example. It’s a shame that Governor DeWine is pushing the discredited 1619 Project as a resource and it must be removed immediately,” Mandel said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ohio’s education department is controlled by a 19-member board, 11 of whom are elected and eight who are appointed by the governor.
JOURNALIST TRICKS HIGH-PROFILE CONSERVATIVES INTO TWEETING PHOTO OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD IN UNIFORM
What’s the point of electing “Republicans” who do the left’s bidding?
Our governor should NOT be pushing the radical 1619 Project on Ohio students. pic.twitter.com/hVfyPwwBOt
— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) June 1, 2021
The inclusion of the 1619 curriculum as a resource has previously been criticized by Daniel Regenold, the founder of free university EmpowerU, who pointed out the link on the state website in a March letter to DeWine. Regenold has also sued the state Education Department for allegedly banning criticism of the 1619 project.
“I asked [State Board of Education] President [Laura] Kohler to take this link down because it’s racist. President Kohler informed me that she is not opposed to having 1619 project information shared with students by a skilled teacher (even if factually incorrect),” Regenold wrote to DeWine. “I urge you to mix up the School Board to include more diversity of thought that truly represents Ohioans in a ‘color blind’ manner.”
Mandel, who was Ohio’s state treasurer from 2011 to 2019 and previously ran for Senate in 2012 and 2016, is eager to wage ideological battles within his own party and attack fellow Republicans who are critical of former President Donald Trump.
It is not the first time that Mandel took aim at DeWine. In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Mandel called DeWine a “squishy Republican governor” and a “RINO,” meaning a “Republican in name only.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The 2022 Ohio Senate election will be open, as Republican Sen. Rob Portman is retiring at the end of his term. Other Republican candidates include Jane Timken, former chairwoman of the state Republican Party, and state Sen. Mike Dolan. Investor and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance has also formed an exploratory committee for the race.
DeWine and Ohio’s state education board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
