WASHINGTON — A top White House ally plans to paint Republicans’ approach to issues related to race, gender and sexual identity as part of a Republican strategy to undermine public education as White House officials debate how to force to participate in the so-called culture wars that dominate the good.
In remarks prepared for the National Press Club on Tuesday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is expected to say that state and local laws that ban certain types of books or restrict what can be taught in the classroom are «feeding hostility and fear» and are not serving students, parents or teachers, according to an advance copy of his speech provided to NBC News.
“What started as fights over pandemic-era safety measures morphed into fearmongering: false claims that elementary and middle schools are teaching critical race theory, instead of teaching history and current events according with the state-approved curriculum; disgusting and unsubstantiated claims that teachers are grooming and indoctrinating students; and pronouncements that public schools are pushing a ‘woke’ agenda,” Weingarten will say. “This is an organized and dangerous effort to undermine public schools.”
Weingarten will present steps that would address issues like mental health, school safety and learning loss from the coronavirus pandemic, but will also call on others to push back more strongly against the culture wars.
Legislation passed or pending in states across the country is designed to “create a climate of fear and intimidation” to allow conservative activists to advance an agenda that includes diverting education funding from public schools, Weingarten will say.
“Our public schools should not be pawns to the ambitions of politicians,” he will say.
A senior White House official who spoke with Weingarten said his comments mainly focus on education policy.
So far, the Biden administration has launched something of a scattered response to the GOP’s culture war campaign, largely by calling for specific bills as they move or addressing them in passing at events with relevant communities.
in a Black History Month Reception in late February, for example, both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris indirectly criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for rejecting a proposed Advanced Placement course in black history for high school students.
“Black history is American history,” Harris said. «And let’s be clear: We will not, as a nation, build a better future for America by trying to erase America’s past.»
Biden said at the event: “History matters. And black history matters. I can’t just choose to learn what we want to know. We learn what we need to know. We have to learn everything: the good, the bad, the truth, and who we are as a nation. That’s what great nations do.»
The administration also responded to DeSantis with a opinion piece in the Tampa Bay Times this month by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who argued that classroom discussions about the United States are hampered «when politicians try to hijack it to further their own partisan agendas.»
“Ironically, some of the same politicians who claim to promote freedom are banning books and censoring what students can learn,” Cardona wrote. “Parents don’t want politicians to dictate what their children can learn, think and believe. This is not how public education is supposed to work in a free country.”
A White House official pointed to the op-ed as an example of how the White House plans to address the issue, albeit intermittently, until Biden fully bows down in the debate.
At some point, Biden will carry more weight, but as of now the White House sees it as a 2024 conversation and doesn’t think it should focus on that, the official said. “We don’t think this is the time,” the official said.
Biden’s entry into the debate could be seen as a one-on-one showdown with DeSantis, and the White House’s goal is for the president to appear above that. The official also said that the polls do not suggest that it is an issue that Biden should pay close attention to, as he shows that the main concerns of Americans are inflation, health care and their personal economic circumstances.
“I am not naive and underestimate the potential for wedge problems in certain races. But the average voter is much more wary of bull issues,» said John Anzalone, a pollster for the Biden campaign.
Last year, Biden explicitly referred to the «culture wars» twice, once when he honored the Council of State School Chief Officials. National and State Teachers of the Year and again in his prime time speech from Independence Hall in Philadelphiawhere he said the nation should not focus on «divisive culture wars» or «the politics of grievances, but on a future we can build together.»
Officials say they hope Biden for now will continue to focus on issues like manufacturing and supply chains. On Tuesday, he will launch an entire administration «Invest in America» tour with a stop in North Carolina.