President Joe Biden ripped Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Department of Education and its counterparts across the country that have clamped down on the types of books being taught in schools.
“Did you ever think, even you younger teachers, did you ever think you’d be teaching, and you’d be worried about book-burnings and banning books, all because it doesn’t fit somebody’s political agenda?” Biden said at the White House Wednesday.
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“American teachers have dedicated their lives to teaching our children and lifting them up,” he added. “We’ve got to stop making them the target of the culture wars. That’s where this is going.”
Biden made the comments at an East Room event celebrating the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2022 national and state teachers of the year. Biden, who spoke after first lady Jill Biden, expressed pride in his wife for continuing as a Northern Virginia Community College English and writing professor, despite her East Wing duties.
“It’s not enough to give teachers praise,” he said to the friendly crowd. “We ought to give you a raise.”
Biden also reflected on his motivations for becoming a politician, saying he embarked on a political career because “the greatest sin anyone can commit is the abuse of power.”
DeSantis’s administration last week rejected 54 of the 132 mathematics books submitted for use as part of the state’s 2022-23 curriculum, the majority of which were for grades K-5. His department said its decisions were based on identified references to so-called critical race theory, Common Core, and social-emotional learning.
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“It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students,” DeSantis said at the time.
