Republican candidate for Alabama’s 2022 U.S. Senate race Jessica Taylor on Monday vowed to combat what she referred to as “harmful propaganda” being taught in public schools.
Many political pundits across the nation last week turned their focus to what was widely viewed as a bellwether election in Virginia. As Republicans swept the state’s highest elected offices, much attention was given to the GOP’s messaging regarding parental involvement in students’ education. Republicans’ success in the elections, particularly the gubernatorial race, was credited to the party honing in on the issue of education.
As progressives across the nation advocate for the inclusion of components of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools, conservatives are pushing back against the controversial academic concept, citing what they see as its divisive nature and emphasis on exploiting racial tensions.
In announcing her signing of the pledge to combat such progressive efforts in the nation’s education system, Taylor touched on her being a mother of students who attend public schools as a reason she desired to fight what she called “woke ideology.”
“As a mom of 3 public school students, what is being taught to our children is one of my greatest concerns,” advised Taylor. “Woke ideology has no place in the classroom, and I am proud to see parents everywhere fighting back.”
She added, “Despite what the Biden administration claims, parents who stand up to school boards to demand change, are not domestic terrorists.”
The assertion by Taylor was made in reference to a letter the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent to President Joe Biden which alleged that parents partaking in protest against CRT could be akin to a form of domestic terrorism. The NSBA eventually backtracked on the accusation and was forced to publicly apologize after receiving a groundswell of criticism.
Taylor further pledged to ensure students would not be exposed to what she called “harmful propaganda and social engineering” by granting states, as opposed to the federal government, a higher degree of control over public education.
The candidate continued, “Liberal school boards and politicians have forgotten who they work for. We must remind them. I will fight to make sure our children are safe from harmful propaganda and social engineering by working to remove the federal government from educational oversight and returning control back to Alabama.”
In a conversation with Yellowhammer News, Taylor expanded on various issues facing public education, specifically what she viewed as the need to combat potential efforts to impose COVID-19 vaccination upon children. She contended that the U.S. Constitution disallows the federal government from being involved in public education.
“It’s astounding to me what we see the federal government doing across the board and certainly now that they’re trying to potentially mandate that our children become vaccinated,” said Taylor. “Parents are going to stand up and fight everywhere against this. I think education needs reform across all angles. Really, the federal government has no place in educating our children. The Tenth Amendment specifically reserves that right to the states. We’ve certainly seen [the federal government] make a mess of things.”
Taylor proclaimed conservatives’ efforts to reform public education should focus on combating CRT-based concepts as well as the potential of forced COVID-19 vaccination.
She concluded, “They’re attempting to rewrite American history with that woke liberal woke propaganda like Critical Race Theory. So I think we’ve got to fight on both of those fronts.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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