The Patriot Post® · RNC: Biden Is Failing America's Kids

By the Republican National Committee

THE ANTI-EDUCATION PRESIDENT

• While the White House labels Biden “the education president,” Americans know this couldn’t be further from the truth.
  • Under Biden, test scores have plummeted to the lowest levels in decades and hundreds of thousands of children are simply missing from the classroom.
    • More than 25% of students – 6.5 million kids – were classified as chronically absent during the 2021-2022 school year because they missed at least 10% of the school year.
    • Almost 50 percent of students in Washington, D.C. have become virtually absent.
  • Meanwhile, curriculums are being inundated with inappropriate materials and far-left topics championed by Democrats.
• Biden does not have the best interests of America’s children in mind, only the teachers’ unions that donate to him.
  • Biden believes that the government should be a child’s parent, and that actual parents should have no say in the matter.
• Biden’s war on parents doesn’t stop there; parents are feeling the effects of “Bidenomics” as back-to-school prices are on the rise.
• While Biden and Democrats play politics with kids’ futures, Republicans are fighting to empower parents and give children the best opportunities and resources.

BIDEN DOES THE BIDDING OF TEACHERS’ UNION BOSSES

• Biden has been working to undermine parents’ rights since day one, instead taking his marching orders from teachers’ unions.
• The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) influenced the Biden administration’s school reopening guidance, with their suggested language included almost verbatim.
  • AFT President Randi Weingarten: “They asked us for language, and we gave them language.”
• Biden’s former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted to changing guidance to give teachers’ unions “what they need,” prioritizing special interest groups over the needs of students. 
  • In an email to the AFT, Walensky even thanked them for their language writing, “I wanted to be certain you knew it is being worked into … the school reopening guidance.”
• The Biden administration has failed to expand school choice for those who need it the most – allowing teachers’ unions to maintain power.

CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING DUE TO BIDEN’S UNION FIRST, STUDENTS LAST AGENDA

• National test scores have plummeted to historic lows as a result of Democrats’ extended school closures – erasing decades of progress.
• The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), better known as the nation’s report card, found that math scores fell by the largest margin in 50 years, while the average reading score is now the same as it was in 2004.
  • Just 13 percent of 8^th graders met proficiency standards for U.S. history, and 20 percent for civics – both marking all-time lows.
  • Only 33 percent of 4^th graders are proficient in reading, and 36 percent in math.
  • In 8^th grade, only 31 percent of students are proficient in reading, and 26 percent in math.
  • These declines have been even worse for minority students, who were put at a further disadvantage due to pandemic school closures, “in part because their schools were more likely to continue remote learning for longer periods of time.”
• Meanwhile, according to a February 2023 analysis from AP and Stanford, 230,000 students are missing from the nation’s public school systems after Democrat-sponsored COVID lockdowns.
• Mental health issues have skyrocketed, with the number of teenage girls considering suicide up 50 percent nationwide since 2019.

DEMOCRATS’ WAR ON PARENTS

• Across the Biden administration and the country, Democrats have taken a stand against parental involvement in schools.
  • The Biden administration had a central role soliciting and colluding with a National School Board Association letter that called for an investigation into concerned parents for possible “domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” then misled Congress about their role in this scandal.
• The Biden administration has repeatedly insisted that Americans’ children collectively belong to the nation instead of their parents.
  • Last month, Biden said “they’re not somebody else’s kids, they’re all our kids.”
  • In May, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated “these are our kids. They belong to all of us.”
  • In April, Biden claimed “there’s no such thing as someone else’s child. No such thing as someone else’s child. Our nation’s children are all our children.”

BACK-TO-SCHOOL COSTS ARE SURGING BECAUSE OF BIDENOMICS

• This fall, parents across the nation are feeling the effects of Bidenflation with prices of nearly all back-to-school necessities on the rise.
  • The price of school supplies has increased nearly 24 percent in the past two years.
• Experts predict this school shopping season could “set a new record for the most expensive one ever.”
• The National Retail Federation estimates parents on average are expecting to spend $890 per household, up $25 from last year and more than $100 from 2020.
• Another report by analytics firm DataWeave found that back-to-school costs are up nearly 10 percent this season compared with a year ago.
  • The price of backpacks alone is up 25 percent.
• Nearly half of back-to-school shoppers will turn to financing in order to pay for supplies this year according to a survey by CNET Money.

REPUBLICANS ARE STANDING UP FOR THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND FAMILIES

• Earlier this year, House Republicans passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, affirming parents’ right to know what their children are being taught and protect parents’ ability to be involved in their children’s education.
• As Democrats allow critical race theory (CRT) to dominate school curriculums, 17 Republican-led states have taken action to ban CRT from being taught in public schools.
  • In Florida, Republicans have stood up to the far-left to prevent children as young as 5-years-old from being taught inappropriate sexual content.
  • In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin has expanded parents’ rights to have a say in what their children are taught in school, and has delivered commonsense reforms to help parents retain their rights.
  • In South Dakota, Governor Kristi Noem signed legislation which restricted the teaching of “inherently divisive concepts,” which is defined as “any ideas in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” in public schools.
  • In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation to protect young children from inappropriate material and provide flexible funding to eligible families who find that a traditional public school does not meet their child’s needs. 
• A National Burau of Economic Research analysis shows that 19 of the top 20 states for getting kids back to in-person schooling were led by Republicans.
  • In contrast, 18 of the bottom 20 states and districts were led by Democrats.

Originally posted here.