Securing A Good Education For Our Children

On Saturday, Just the News posted an article about Moms for Liberty’s idea to help parents gain more input into their children’s curriculum.

The article reports:

“We’re launching something on Monday called ‘The Parent Pledge,’ and that’s something that elected officials and candidates can take,” Moms for Liberty founder Tiffany Justice announced during a wide-ranging interview Saturday on the John Solomon Reports podcast.

“It just says that they recognize parental rights are fundamental rights, that parents have that fundamental right to direct the education, the medical care, the moral and religious upbringing of their children in their character development,” Justice explained. “And that the government needs to know their place and that they will stand against government overreach.”

The article concludes:

Moms for Liberty has been starting chapters across the country and establishing political action committees to challenge the stranglehold teachers unions have long maintained on public education.

“These unions realize that they’re losing their grip and their hold on public education,” said Justice, citing Florida Democratic nominee for governor Charlie Crist’s selection of a “union boss” as his running mate. “And now they’re looking to assert themselves and really show their real true political colors at higher levels of government so that they can strongarm people into doing what they want. But parents aren’t going to let that happen.”

The voices of parents were loudly heard in the recent Virginia election for governor. When one candidate essentially stated that parents should not have input into what is being taught in schools, he lost the race. Since taking office, Governor Youngkin has respected the rights of parents and has undone some of the more radical legislation signed into law by his predecessor. Since the advent of the U.S. Department of Education, student test scores have fallen consistently. It’s time to decentralize education, abolish the Department of Education, and give parents a voice in their children’s education. Education should be local–all localities have different needs. When we tried to standardize the teaching of mathematics and language arts, the scores trended downward. It’s time to go back to the time when our students were learning the skills they needed to become useful citizens of America.

 

Now They Have Spies?!?!

On Saturday, The Carolina Journal posted an article about a recent occurrence at a North Carolina restaurant.

The article reports:

A reservation at a Raleigh restaurant for a group of women and men celebrating the end of the school year was canceled after the restaurant found out some of those attending were associated with the Wake County group Moms for Liberty.

Kari Donovan, a member and spokesperson for the Wake County Chapter of Moms for Liberty, told Carolina Journal in a phone interview that Julie Page, chair of the local chapter, made the reservation at Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing as a happy hour for moms she knew to celebrate the end of the school year.

She posted the invitation Tuesday on the group’s Facebook page without mentioning the location. Donovan said attendees needed to send an inquiry to find out where it would take place on Friday. Page sent the invite to members of the group directly.

In total, 30 people responded, including men, some women who were not affiliated with the Moms for Liberty group, and the rest who were members. Unbeknownst to Page, one of those members went by an assumed name. The imposter is actually a Durham woman named Katherine Johnson, who recently started a progressive far-left group and is raising money through social media for a “Summer of Rage for the Triangle area of North Carolina.”

In a Tik-Tok video, Johnson took credit for complaining to the restaurant about the attendees’ association with Moms for Liberty. In another video, Johnson addresses Page directly.

“Stay vigilant big girl because we are coming for you,” Johnson said in the video. Donovan said Johnson was removed from the group.

Good grief! How in the world is a “Summer of Rage” helpful to anyone? Unfortunately, this is only one example of the targeting of parents who are trying to improve their children’s schools and get unnecessary garbage removed from the curriculum. Ms. Johnson might be better served by putting her efforts into improving North Carolina’s schools rather than preventing mothers from celebrating the end of the school year.

In 2018, The Triangle Business Journal reported:

North Carolina’s public education system falls short of the state’s prestigious university reputations, says WalletHub. The Tar Heel State’s K-12 public school systems and overall education level are below average compared to the nation, despite having some of the most renowned universities in the country.  

North Carolina was rated to have the 32nd best K-12 public school system in the nation, based on quality and safety. The quality rating was based on metrics including high school graduation rate, math and reading scores, median SAT and ACT scores, and the pupil-teacher ratio.  

Stopping mothers from celebrating or planning a “Summer of Rage” does nothing to address this situation.