President Joe Biden has reignited the fire among already outraged parents after claiming their children don't belong to them 'wh...
President Joe Biden has reignited the fire among already outraged parents after claiming their children don't belong to them 'when they’re in the classroom.'
'They’re all our children,' he said Wednesday, addressing educators at the 2022 Teacher of the Year ceremony hosted by the White House. 'They are not somebody's else children. They're like yours when they're in the classroom.'
Biden also took aim at parents and Republican legislators who have spearheaded efforts to ban books and bar sexually explicit or overly politically correct curriculum.
'Today, there are too many politicians trying to score political points banning books, even math books,' the president said. 'Did you ever think when you’d be teaching you’re going to be worried about book burnings and banning books all because it doesn’t fit somebody’s political agenda?'
He added, speaking of teachers: 'We have got to stop making them the target of the culture wars.'
President Joe Biden defended teachers Wednesday, decrying Republican-led efforts in some states to ban books and bar sexually explicit or overly politically correct curriculum
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and 2022 National Teacher of the Year Kurt Russell applaud the 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year during an event Wednesday in the East Room
Biden's comments echoed the now-infamous declaration from former Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe who, while on the campaign trail last year, blasted the role parents were playing in his state's education system.
'I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions,' he said during a September debate. 'I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.'
McAuliffe's opponent, now-Governor Glenn Youngkin, hit back, saying: 'You believe school systems should tell children what to do. I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education.'
Youngkin, who swept to victory in Virginia, had made parental rights in education a staple of his gubernatorial campaign, with his surprise victory largely-credited to his laser focus on Democrats' woke education policies.
Unlike Biden, who seemingly seeks less parent involvement in schools, the GOP is leaning on parental education rights as a wedge ahead of the midterm elections, hoping to mobilize Republicans and appeal to independent voters.
DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law on March 28. The bill bans any discussion pertaining to 'sexual orientation' or 'gender identity' in Florida schools for students in kindergarten through third grade
Critics of HB 1557 bill allege it teaches young kids to believe they are wrong for being different and that forcing schools to report students who are receiving mental health services is taking away a safe space for those students to be themselves
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made education a priority in his state, passing numerous bills that spew the parental-choice rhetoric.
In March, Florida passed the controversial Parental Rights in Education Bill (HB 1557) - dubbed by critics as the Don't Say Gay bill.
The legislation bans any discussion pertaining to 'sexual orientation' or 'gender identity' in Florida schools for students in kindergarten through third grade.
It will become law on July 1 and teachers who breach its regulations can be sued by parents.
'In Florida, we not only know that parents have a right to be involved, we insist that parents have a right to be involved,' DeSantis said at a press conference on March 28 before he signed the bill in to law.
'We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination.'
Critics, however, say it teaches young kids to believe they are wrong for being different and that forcing schools to report students who are receiving mental health services is taking away a safe space for those students to be themselves.
They also claim that the vagueness of the wording could get a teacher in trouble if they make a passing reference to having a same-sex partner.
Even the White House weighed in on what has become the latest culture wars clash, with press secretary Jen Psaki claiming last week it was 'hateful' and 'misinformed'.
DeSantis, last week also signed the Stop WOKE Bill into law, banning critical race theory (CRT) as a component in Florida schools, which the governor claims promotes hatred among students and makes individuals feel guilty for racism of the past.
'We believe an important component of freedom in the state of Florida is the freedom from having oppressive ideologies imposed upon you without your consent,' DeSantis said at the bill's signing, WFTS reported.
'Whether it be in the classroom or in the workplace. And we decided to do something about it.'
Last week DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Bill into law, banning critical race theory as a component in Florida schools. Children are pictured holding signs during the governor's bill signing on April 22
House Bill 7, also known as the Stop WOKE Bill, specifically outlaws teachings that assert certain individuals are 'inherently racist [or] sexist] - or 'morally superior' - or that characterize individuals' status as 'privileged' or 'oppressed' based on their race, sex or national origin.'
'What we will not allow is to be taught that members of one race, color, national origin or sex are somehow morally superior,' the governor said on Friday. 'We are not gonna allow teaching that a person simply by virtue of his/her race, color, national origin or sex is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, that's wrong.'
Under the legislation, which also goes into effect on July 1, teachers are allowed to address topics of sexism, racism, slavery, and racial segregation but are not permitted to persuade students to a particular point of view.
'We are not gonna use your tax dollars to teach our kids to hate this country or to hate each other,' DeSantis said.
Florida Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr., who pushed the bill through the senate, said the bill was not meant to cover up America's history with racism, but to not blame students for past wrongs.
'It's not about the feel. We can't control how a person feels about a topic,' Diaz told the Washington Post. 'But what we can control is to have a teacher not go to a student … and impose on a male student that they are sexist simply because they are a considered a male.'
The GOP is leaning on parental education rights as a wedge ahead of the midterm elections, hoping to mobilize Republicans and appeal to independent voters. Parents are pictured listening to DeSantis speak ahead of his public signing of the Stop WOKE Bill on April 22
In a move that seems to be sweeping the nation, the Florida Department of Education also rejected 54 math textbooks from its curriculum due to the inclusion of banned material.
The state DOE had garnered criticism for tossing out 41 percent of the 132 math textbooks submitted for the next school year last week without listing the rejected books, more than half of which the agency said referenced CRT, with the rest containing Common Core and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Last Thursday, the state released four examples of lessons considered unacceptable in the state, including the use of bar graphs that measures levels of racial prejudice based on age and political identity and asks students to solve equations based on the findings.
The graphs, which extrapolated data from the Project Implicit Discrimination website, show that those 65 and older and who lean towards the conservative end of the political spectrum have the most racial bias.
Another example of banned material included a lesson plan for polynomials, with one of the problems once again referencing the Implicit Association Test, claiming that the 2 million people who have taken the test have 'slight' or 'moderate' bias, which changes based on age and political identification.
The department said the 54 books banned from the curriculum are prohibited because they are not 'aligned with Florida standards or included prohibited topics and unsolicited strategies.'
One of the materials in the 54 math text books banned by Florida included bar graphs that measures levels of racial prejudice based on age and political identity. The graphs show that those 65 and older and who are more conservative have the most racial bias
Oklahoma library has banned displays promoting 'romance book club' and one on sexual assault awareness, pictured above
Similarly, an Oklahoma library banned a display that was showcasing sexual assault awareness and a proposed 'romance book club' after both were deemed inappropriate.
The Public Library of Enid and Garfield County's Board of Directors had initially said the book club and the sexual assault awareness book display could stay, but then the Enid Public Library's board voted narrowly 3-2 to ban both the display and program. The board reasoned that the display featured content about sexuality, while the book club would discuss sexual topics, and that neither was appropriate for the library.
Enid Public Library's interim director Theri Ray told CNN the projects were shelved 'in accordance with the adopted policy.'
The policy itself is extremely broad and requires the library's programs and exhibits to be 'non-partisan' and 'not make as their object the study of sex, sexual activity, sexual perversion, sex-based classifications, sexual preferences, sexual identity, gender identity, or subjects that are of a sexual nature.'
Book bans have been at the heart of American controversy throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, which many alleging the bans violate the First Amendment. Communities and education systems often ban books due to sexual imagery, violence and any other content that is deemed obscene.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom's Cabin is widely recognized by historians as the first book in the U.S. to experience a ban on a national scale.
In 2020, the American Library Association published a list detailing the top 100 most banned or challenged books nationwide over the last decade. Topping the list was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.
First lady Jill Biden hugs 2022 National Teacher of the Year Kurt Russell as President Joe Biden applauds during the 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year event on Wednesday
During his speech Wednesday, Biden also shared personal testimony detailing how the educators and loved ones in his life helped him overcome his stutter.
'I wonder how I got here. I got here because of my parents and my teachers,' Biden said in a long, heart-felt deviation from his prepared remarks. 'That idea is exemplified by the national teacher of the year.'
The president and First Lady Jill Biden, who continues to teach English at a community college in suburban Washington D.C., cheered for Ohio history teacher Kurt Russell, the 2022 national teacher of the year, and finalists for the award who gathered from each state.
'Teaching is not what Jill does, it's who she is, like most of you,' the president said, before telling the crowd about his problem as a child speaking - especially in class or otherwise publicly - 'when I stuttered, everyone thinks you're stupid. Totally incompetent.'
Biden has talked openly about battling a childhood stutter in the past, including while running for president in 2020. But he stressed on Wednesday the importance of teachers in helping him with that effort.
President Joe Biden (right) shakes hands with 2022 National Teacher of the Year Kurt Russell (left) during the 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year event in the East Room
'I have teachers, I can name the ones through grade school, high school, even college,' the president said. 'I didn't really beat my stutter - and still occasionally I do (stutter) - until I took a speech debate class in college just to force myself to be able to stand up.'
Russell summed up his profession by saying, 'Each student needs a champion, no matter what the circumstance are.'
That echoed the sentiments of the first lady, who said of great teachers, 'it's not the curriculum or the classroom tactics, it's that smile that tells students that they don't have to be afraid to answer out loud.'
'It's the calm in your voice that can still the wild horses running through their hearts,' she added. 'It's the way that you know that, sometimes, "I'm fine" means everything is wrong.'
When Jill Biden talked about teachers changing lives 'student by student,' her voice began to crack, before she laughed and said 'Now I'm getting emotional.'
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