Since Joe Biden took office, his Administration has been working around the clock to fundamentally change America’s K-12 education system so they can indoctrinate our school-aged children with their radical agenda and woke ideology.

I’ve seen so many things out of this Administration that bother me greatly, especially when they labeled concerned and involved parents as “domestic terrorists.” This should anger us all. 

For decades, our children’s test scores have been dropping. In fact, reading scores are at their lowest levels in decades and math scores are falling by the largest percentage we’ve ever seen. Clearly, the federal government’ one-size-fits-all approach is not working, and we need to give parents and local communities much more control over our education system.

That’s why my House Republican colleagues and I passed H.R. 5 – the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act, so we can restore parents’ voices in their children’s education, stop the Biden administration from labeling these parents “domestic terrorists,” and ensure our kids are getting the best possible education.

This is School Choice Week, which is a time to highlight some of the many great K-12 education options for children. These include traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home school options. Now, more than ever, we need school choice so families can take their children’s education dollars and spend them where they best see fit. Parents, regardless of their income status, should be able to send their children to the best possible school. 

I’m encouraged to see our local and statewide elected officials in Alabama make school choice a priority in their legislative session this year, and I think expanding school choice in Alabama will expand opportunities and improve education quality for countless students across Alabama. 

One of the things I’ve learned during my time representing Alabama’s First Congressional District in Washington is that the federal government does just a few things well and telling us what and how to educate our children is certainly not one of them. Let’s put parents, rather than the federal government, back in charge of our children’s education and give them the tools they need to succeed in life.

Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.