After COVID school shutdowns, parents have learned an important lesson: They have power
President Joe Biden and the first lady launched last week by visiting a middle school in Washington, D.C. – and trying to gaslight parents.
As children returned to class this school year, memories of pandemic-related school closures are no doubt still fresh on the minds of families. Too many of the nation’s students – in particular, the most vulnerable – were forced to stay home for more than a year, causing tremendous losses in learning, from which they may never recover.
Yet, Biden has a different take on how this all went down – one in direct conflict with reality.
The same day the president visited the school, the White House released a statement, claiming in part:
“Today, thanks to the President’s swift actions and historic investments, every school in America is open safely for in-person instruction. Since Day One, President Biden has worked to help every school open safely for in-person instruction, accelerate academic achievement, and build communities where all students feel they belong.”
Biden must really think parents are dumb.
Anyone who paid attention in early 2021 knows Biden’s actions were hardly “swift.” His goal to fully open schools within his first 100 days quickly fizzled, and it became clear that the teachers unions who helped get him elected played an outsized role in dictating health and policy guidelines that kept schools shuttered far longer than necessary.
Rewriting history: Teachers unions want parents to forget what happened during COVID. Don’t let them.
Schools are closing for COVID again. Really?
In the past week, several school districts shockingly announced they are suspending in-person learning in response to the latest COVID surge. In addition, businesses and institutions are reinstating mask mandates. Expect K-12 schools to jump on board, even though masking children has proven ineffective and possibly even harmful to some of the youngest learners.
In case anyone has forgotten, this is not September 2020, when much about COVID-19 was still unknown and there were no vaccines.
Three years later, the last thing America’s young people need is a new round of widespread disruptions and policies that won’t help them.
Mask mandate? No thanks: As new BA.2.86 COVID variant emerges, America lifts middle finger to the same old mandates
As discouraging as the recent announcements seem, parents have newfound power in the wake of the COVID shutdowns. The parental rights movement in education is stronger than ever, and parents are taking action when they don’t like what their children's school is doing.
Parents know what's best for kids, not schools or politicians
Whether it’s decisions related to COVID or what schools are teaching, parents are no longer sitting on the sidelines. That has led to the rise of grassroots groups like Moms for Liberty, which has quickly gained national stature and influence.
And it’s no coincidence that since the pandemic began, the school choice movement has seen its greatest expansion ever. Six states, including Florida and Iowa, have passed universal choice laws that give all parents access to homeschooling and private schools. Many other states have expanded charter schools and voucher programs.
DeSantis is more than anti-'woke.' He just delivered universal school choice to Florida.
While academics still play a large part in parents’ decisions, they also are defending their values. This is the new wave of the school choice movement, says Jonathan Butcher, education research fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
“There's a real conversation about what kids are being taught and how they're being taught,” Butcher told me. “And COVID blends right into that about who's making the decisions about what's open or not.”
Families push back against leftist agenda
Two recent examples on opposite sides of the country highlight the fight over parental rights.
In California, the Chino Valley Unified School District passed a policy this summer that instructs school personnel to notify parents if their children start using new pronouns or using bathrooms that don’t align with their gender at birth.
Shouldn’t parents be the first to know about such monumental decisions?
Who knows what's best for kids? Hint: Biden and Democrats don't think it's parents
Nope, says state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who describes the policy as “forced outing” of LGBTQ students. The most powerful law enforcement official in California filed a lawsuit against the school district last week for daring to give parents a heads up.
In Maryland, a diverse group of Muslim, Jewish and Christian parents filed an appeal in federal court seeking the right to be notified and opt out of LGBTQ-related classroom books for children as young as pre-K that go against their faith.
The Montgomery County Board of Education took away those options from parents, deciding it knows better than families, sparking a lawsuit earlier this year.
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In a statement, Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, the law firm representing the families, said: “Children deserve the guidance of their parents when learning about complex issues around gender and sexuality.”
That's true. Parents should remember what they’ve learned the past few years and keep fighting for their kids.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Schools closing for COVID? Maybe not – now that parents have power
