In the four years since schools closed to protect students from the onset of the coronavirus, public education has been under the microscope and a major political topic.
Conservatives, led by politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and groups like Moms for Liberty, have embraced the mantle of parental rights and, in part as distance learning has opened a window into classrooms, public schools He claims that his guidance has been effective. It has been hijacked by inappropriate curriculum on LGBTQ topics, race, discrimination, and more.
Opponents such as the progressive group Red Wine and Blue and leaders such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom are pushing back against controversial changes such as Florida teaching middle school students “Sometimes Slave Lessons Learned.” , pushing back against what it calls efforts to weaken the focus on minorities and social issues. Useful skills, book bans, etc.
While the classroom culture wars continue to rage in various states, education and parent activists of various ideologies interviewed by ABC News for this article argue that the wars that these groups started in the first place are Initially, there are concerns that a shift to the educational field is necessary. .
“Parents want their children to read books. It’s not a question of banning books they can’t read,” said Parent Jay, a former leader of the Parent Revolution, criticizing the Republican-led culture war. Artis Wright says. A Los Angeles-based nonprofit that empowers parents told ABC News.
Artis Wright and other activists on both sides of the issue say the slogans and school board cries exaggerate and overshadow more pressing issues.
“Teaching children to read in school shouldn’t be a political issue,” said Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the widely recognized and polarizing group Moms for Liberty. “This is not a partisan issue, and in fact, I believe this is the greatest national security risk to Americans living with an illiterate population.”
Founded in 2021, Moms for Liberty touts its mission as “educating and empowering parents” and has a chapter that describes itself as the “watchdog” of school boards. Contains many. But the group has also faced criticism, with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) saying they spread “hateful images and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community,” and Liberty Mamas leaders saying He previously told ABC News that this was “nonsense”.
Beyond politics, concerns about student education are well-founded, according to national data and recent expert analysis.
The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the nation’s report card, found that more than one-third of the nation’s fourth graders were below proficient reading comprehension in 2022.
NAEP math, history, and civics scores all decreased in 2022. Fourth and eighth graders saw the largest declines on record in math, and eighth graders received the lowest history scores since 1994, when the history assessment was first administered.
In February, Tom Kane, a professor at Harvard University’s Center for Educational Policy Research, issued a stark warning to parents.
Even though Cain’s Educational Recovery Scorecard outlines progress over the past year, the study, based on state-level and NAEP results, found that the average school district still has “a long way to go to catch up in math.” 1 year,” it turns out, and “two years left to catch up.” I’m catching up on reading. ”
“If we allow these declines in academic performance to become permanent, students will be paying the price of the pandemic for the rest of their lives, including lower college enrollment rates.” [and] When you graduate from college, you earn less,” Cain, who co-authored the scorecard in conjunction with Stanford University’s Educational Opportunity Project, told ABC News.
Liberal leaders say they are tired of culture war critics who focus less on interrupted instruction and more on discussing race and gender ideology. Most Americans believe that parents are less likely to stop their children from learning about LGBTQ issues if the way they teach them conflicts with their personal views and beliefs, according to a new Pew Research Center study. Only a third of people believe they should be able to do so. Parents should be able to opt their children out of similar discussions about race.
The Pew study also found that nearly 70% of teachers said the topic of sexual orientation and gender ideology rarely or never came up in the classroom during the past school year.
Keri Rodriguez, president of the National Parents Union (NPU), said the dialogue should instead emphasize America’s illiteracy problem.
“Every child in America has the right to read well by third grade,” Rodriguez told ABC News, adding, “If we can solve that, a lot of things will agree.”
Ms Justice, of Mamas for Liberty, said there was no doubt that learning loss affected “all students” and the issue was a “concern for the future of our children”.
Artist-Wright also said schools should focus on issues beyond culture war themes, such as book bans and other flashpoint issues that vocal advocates and parent groups have been pushing for since the pandemic began. He said that he should guess.
“We need a big picture rethinking of all aspects of what schools will look like as we emerge from the pandemic,” she said.
Republican Rep. Lisa McClain, who chaired a congressional hearing on K-12 education oversight earlier this year, said this shouldn’t be a partisan topic. Parents like Rep. McClain and Rep. Artis Wright want their children to be able to focus on schoolwork, especially math and reading.
“Unfortunately, this year’s K-12 education headlines are likely to focus on laughable book ban claims and semi-hysterical mass layoff claims due to the long-scheduled end to federal funding.” “There is a high level of gender,” said the director of the independent women’s advocacy group Educational Freedom Center. Ginny Gentles of the Forum said this at a hearing of McClain’s Health and Financial Services Subcommittee in January.
“Instead, choose to focus on the academic recovery needs of your students,” Gentles added.
NPU’s Rodriguez was more blunt.
“We’ve been screaming and shouting about it [learning loss] “It’s been going on for years,” she told ABC News. “We have to start urgently addressing these issues with radical transparency about where our children are and where we are taking them so that we can all work together. , even if we get them there on deck, we’re going to continue to see more of the same thing.”
Cain said students who are struggling to make progress should take advantage of summer programming, tutoring and after-school contracts. He said it is imperative that school districts use remaining American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds before it is too late. (The deadline for school districts to access this funding is September)
“We need to provide parents with sufficient information about whether their child is below grade level,” Cain said, adding, “They will be notified when the state test comes back. “I can’t wait to see what happens. Schools need to do that,” he added. Tell them this spring so they can sign up in the summer. ”
Rep. McClain, a conservative mother of four, said America’s public schools could “do better” as problems persist across the country.
“As parents, we must advocate for our children,” she said, adding, “We must take these issues seriously. Our nation’s children, the so-called ‘pandemic population.’ No one deserves to be left behind,” he added.
Both sides say they agree on this point despite cultural differences.
“Parents really want quality education options,” Curtis Valentine, co-director of the Progressive Policy Institute’s Reinventing America’s Schools Project, told ABC News.
“Every parent wants good schools, good teachers and good options.”