Once upon a time, parents held enormous sway over their children’s education. Now, parents have little say over what is taught in public school classrooms.
Testifying before Congress last week, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona was asked a simple question: “Do you think parents should be in charge of their child’s education as the primary stakeholder?”
Cardona responded, “I believe parents are important stakeholders … but I also believe educators have a role in determining educational programming.” Note how Cardona evaded the question, replacing “primary” with “important.” Primary and important are not synonyms. Also, note how Cardona mentioned parents as being part of the equation, but he emphasized the role of educators as being the arbiters of “educational programming.”
Moreover, what does Cardona mean when he refers to educational programming? Education is not about programming students; it is about teaching children how to read, write, perform math and science, think critically, etc.
U.S. education has never been about programming students. That is what authoritarian regimes do to indoctrinate their youth. Interestingly, Cardona’s comments came on the heels of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe’s remark during a recent debate: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
McAuliffe, who served as governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, may want to brush up on Virginia law. According to the Code of Virginia, § 1-240.1. Rights of parents, “A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”
But as if Cardona’s and McAuliffe’s comments were not bad enough, consider what the Department of Justice is up to with regard to school board meetings. On Oct. 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo regarding the “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools.”
Garland says the DOJ will “create specialized training and guidance for local school boards and school administrators. This training will help school board members and other potential victims understand the type of behavior that constitutes threats, how to report threatening conduct to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and how to capture and preserve evidence of threatening conduct to aid in the investigation and prosecution of these crimes.”
Garland’s heavy-handed tactics should send chills down the spine of every parent.
For months, frustrated parents have been attending school board meetings, demanding accountability over school shutdowns and mask mandates during the pandemic. Parents are also asking questions about critical race theory, explicit sexual content in the classroom, and more. That is their right.
Although many meetings have been heated, the overwhelming majority have been peaceful. Many school boards have also muted microphones and cut meetings short, simply because they disagreed with what parents had to say.
It is pathetic to hear the DOJ suggest it might send FBI agents to school board meetings. Surely, with violence and crime running rampant, those agents have more important things to be doing?
As a former public high school teacher, I find this situation intolerable. I put a premium on parents’ feedback and input. That is not to say that I let parents dictate what and how I taught. Yet, I absolutely believed at the time that parents, not education bureaucrats, should be the primary stakeholders in their children’s education. I believe this even more strongly in light of recent events.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is a former public school teacher and senior editor at the Heartland Institute.
