School may be out for summer, but there’s never been more interest in education. From parent-led protests against Critical Race Theory’s discrimination in schools and unprecedented new education spending in Washington to renewed questions about school reopening and teachers’ union continuing to play politics, there’s no shortage of education-related news.
What we’re watching. As our colleague Jay Greene wrote in last week’s newsletter, school choice has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past two decades. While that has been a welcome development for families, some things never change.
Following in the steps of the Obama administration, the Biden administration is attempting to end the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers to low-income children in Washington, D.C. to attend a private school of choice. A Congressional report accompanying an FY 2022 House appropriations bill states that, in accordance with the wishes of the Biden administration, no new scholarships will be awarded beginning in 2023, jeopardizing the education of thousands of low-income children in D.C.
Also happening today. The House Appropriations Committee will mark-up the FY2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which authorizes federal funding for programs managed by the Department of Education. The appropriations bill, in line with the White House’s proposed budget for the Department of Education, includes $102.8 billion for the agency, a 41 percent increase over FY2021 spending levels – the largest proposed increase of any federal agency. The bill will move on to the full House for consideration after mark-up.
Critical Race Theory’s racial bias is not just attacking U.S. history. Jonathan Butcher’s new report released this week, “Rescuing Math and Science from Critical Race Theory’s Racial Discrimination,” explains that the new “woke” dogma of Critical Race Theory is twisting the hard sciences and math in K-12 schools. Despite claims that critical race theorists are trying to make history instruction more thorough, said theorists have been the keynote speakers at math and science conventions for K-12 educators in recent years.
“Parents, teachers, and policymakers should oppose any form of racial discrimination in schools, and reject these insidious efforts to inject prejudice and racial bias into technical subjects that should be used to help children—of all backgrounds—to develop skills and abilities that will help them to be successful in school and in life,” Jonathan writes.
Read the full report here.
Countering Critical Race Theory's discrimination by offering hope for every child’s future in Pennsylvania. Jonathan also traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this week to join Heritage Action for America, No Left Turn in Education, the Pennsylvania Family Institute and others to explain how we can create opportunities for all students to succeed in school, regardless of their skin color. Critical Race Theory’s racial prejudice ignores the ideas of entrepreneurship and personal agency and has no place in classrooms, he said.
