As summer ends, students across the country are making their way back to school and into classrooms. Some parents and students find this time of year to be an exciting prospect. For many others, however, it has become concerning. And rightfully so.
During COVID-19, many people witnessed firsthand what students were being exposed to in school. Among the materials being taught, or made easily available, are critical race theory, age-inappropriate content (such as sexually explicit picture books in elementary schools), anti-American revisionist history, environmental extremism and climate fearmongering, and other left-wing propaganda.
If a silver lining may be gleaned from COVID-19, it’s that many parents came to grips with just how radical some of our schools have become.
What was uncovered is what many of us suspected, but maybe not the extent of its prevalence. For many decades, our educational institutions haven’t been educating young Americans; they’ve been indoctrinating them instead.
I spent 40 years in education. I worked with many fine men and women who dedicated their lives to equipping students with the tools needed for success. But unfortunately, bad actors—emboldened by corrupt teachers unions—have prioritized preaching woke political ideology over ensuring a quality education.
These bad actors have no interest in teaching students the truth about our country and our founding principles. Many of our students are being taught to hate America—and the results speak for themselves.
More and more, high school students today can tell you everything you want to know about the made-up “gender spectrum,” but struggle to read at grade level or do basic math. Our progressive education system, controlled by teachers unions, has led the United States into a literacy crisis and made us rank 26th in the world in math.
It’s embarrassing. The teachers unions try to silence parents and cover for incompetence while our children are suffering.
Attempting to capture and mold the minds of young people to achieve desired political ends is nothing new. It’s been employed by the Left in many countries for many years. We saw this during the communist takeovers of educational institutions in China and Russia in the 20th century.
The Democrat Party, now run by the far Left, began a similar march through our institutions in the second half of the 20th century. The 1960s were a liberal decade, with the sexual revolution, progressive feminism, and the drug and hippie movements all taking root.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz both were born in this revolutionary decade. Kamala has said she’s “a proud product of public education.” And it shows today, as both Harris and Walz are vocal proponents of left-wing ideology in our schools.
During a University of Miami visit in 2023, Harris chided Republicans for trying to keep gender ideology out of classrooms. In her failed 2020 bid for president, Harris said in an “educational” video on Twitter (now X) that “equitable treatment means that we all end up in the same place” and that “there’s a big difference between equality and equity”—echoing Marxist talking points.
Before becoming governor of Minnesota, Walz was the faculty adviser to his high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, an organization with chapters across the country that promotes drag queen shows, chest binders, and transgender surgeries for minor children.
As recently as May, Walz released a letter stating: “My administration remains committed to constructing generations of systemic racism and inequities in our state.” In other words, Walz is fluent in critical race theory.
Throughout their careers, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have supported two things simultaneously: unwavering commitment to left-wing ideology and expanding access to public “education.”
When you combine these two things, you get a conveyor belt producing left-wing ideologues who go on to work in higher education, the federal bureaucracy, and corporate America. The goal is to pump as many students out of the indoctrination factory as possible.
This is one reason why the Biden-Harris administration has attempted, multiple times now, to pay for students’ college loan debt by printing more money. Colleges and universities get a blank check, and in return, the Democrat Party receives a consistent stream of new voters and foot soldiers.
This has put many parents and students in a bind. They recognize that receiving diplomas and degrees are important for career success. But they also recognize this process for what it is: credentialism, not education.
Today, our educational institutions are focused on credentialing young Americans with a left-wing seal of approval.
This is why former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have been fighting to give parents and students the freedom from forced indoctrination that they desperately need.
School choice is at the top of our list of solutions. This and many other Republican policies will help Americans avoid the left-wing indoctrination system.
Education, not indoctrination, is the bedrock of the American republic. When equipped with the right tools, our students will help make America great again. When our young people are provided with this firm foundation, America can and will achieve greatness for years to come.
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