A New Jersey Democratic congressman facing a tough reelection campaign due to redistricting partially broke with the party line on parental choice in education, calling for parental oversight and collaboration between curriculum-builders and families.
Rep. Tom Malinowski, who is facing a challenge from a Republican candidate whom he narrowly defeated when his district was bluer in 2020, said that he and his opponent agree that “parents should have a voice in their kids’ education.”
REPUBLICAN TOM KEAN JR. WINNER IN OTHERWISE DEMOCRATIC-FRIENDLY HOUSE REDISTRICTING MAP
“We all want to protect our children and their education. That works best when parents and teachers work together and listen to each other. It doesn’t work when politicians use kids as political pawns to divide us from one another,” Malinowski said in a lengthy tweet thread. “That has to stop now. In February, some sample lesson plans on gender identity were distributed in Westfield that were not age appropriate. Parents raised understandable concerns and I’m glad the school district never intended them to be part of any curriculum.”
In addition to his concessions to some parents’ concerns, Malinowski also took the opportunity to bash his opponent Tom Kean’s response. He called Kean’s claims that the curriculum included “exposure to pornography” an “outrageous and untrue slur.”
To face Malinowski in New jersey’s 7th Congressional District, stretching from the New York City suburbs to the Pennsylvania state line, Kean must still get past a more conservative primary opponent. Both parties are watching the race closely, with House Republicans needing to net five seats in the 435-member chamber to reclaim the majority they lost in 2018.
Though Malinowski said he did not support certain forms of sex education in the classroom, he drew the line at “banning books” that may include LGBTQ themes.
“I hear from parents concerned about learning loss from school closures, about mental health & the real problem. of youth suicides in our communities,” he said. “And most parents are more interested in protecting their kids from guns than from books. I think we should listen to them.”
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Malinowski caught hot water when a video emerged in March of him belittling parents demanding oversight of school curricula, calling them a “fringe movement” harping on “made-up cultural bulls***.”
Vulnerable Democrats such as Malinowski are trying to avoid the broad disapproval of their party amid President Joe Biden’s dismal poll numbers. Parental rights in education proved to be the issue that carried Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, to victory in November.
