At a recent House Oversight Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12) said that parents who express concerns about culture wars in public schools are in the minority in K-12 districts. He claimed that. she said:
“Republicans say this is about a parent's right to attend their child's classes. This national poll from NPR found that regardless of politics, 76% of parents approve of their child's school and its teachings by a wide margin. found that only 18% of parents were dissatisfied with how gender and sexuality was taught; 19% said the same about race and racism; 14% said the same That's how I feel about U.S. history. These numbers show what's really going on.”
Most are false or misleading. MATERIAL ERRORS OR OMISSIONS. Most would have you believe.
Unfortunately, Rep. Lee's statistics “do not show what is really going on.” It's easy for parents to claim they're satisfied with their children's education when bureaucrats and powerful teachers' unions spin a narrative that covers up widespread and destructive educational failures. Rep. Lee conveniently omits any discussion of the abysmal academic performance of schools across the country. Classrooms that promote gender ideology and create divisive racial environments. Continued learning loss and chronic absenteeism after the pandemic. and disturbing violence at school.
Rep. Lee's numbers do not accurately represent the widespread frustration and dissatisfaction of parents with today's public education. What Congressman Lee does not mention is: The 2022 NPR polling data she cited also revealed that only 27% of her parents “believe.” [their] children's school teaches [sexuality and gender identity] in a manner consistent with [their] values. ” Similarly, only 38% of parents believed their child's school taught about race and racism in a way that was consistent with their values. It's easy to reparent the narrative and Gaslight by carefully selecting data points.
A recent 2024 Pew Research poll found that 50% of K-12 teachers don't think students should learn about gender identity in school. 48% of all K-12 teachers and 54% of all adults think parents should be able to opt out of lessons about their child's sexual orientation or gender identity. Data cited by Rep. Lee revealed that 35% of parents “don't know” whether their school's guidance on sexuality and sexual orientation is consistent with their values. Unfortunately, the National Education Association and other teachers' unions are advising schools to hide gender reassignment and gender ideology from parents. This directly contradicts the will of parents and the people. According to a 2023 CRC Research poll, 75% of voters in 2023 supported requiring schools to obtain parental consent before helping students change their gender identity.
Another New York Times poll in 2022 found that 58% of Americans strongly oppose school teachers teaching elementary school students about sexual orientation and gender identity, while 12% somewhat disapprove. It turned out that there was.
Regarding race, 70% of respondents said it was not important for schools to “teach students that race is the most important thing to them,” according to a survey by Parents Advocating for Education. ing. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of respondents “opposed teaching students that white people are inherently privileged and black people and other people of color are inherently oppressed.” Bureaucrats and teachers' unions smuggle critical race theory into schools under the guise of “diversity,” ethnic studies, and “history.” Most parents, and Americans in general, understand that critical race theory dramatically emphasizes racial divisions and seeks to rewrite history.
And it's not just Republicans who want to attend their children's classes. In 2022, the Goldwater Institute found that “an overwhelming majority of American voters, 84 percent, agree that parents should be able to view their child's classroom curriculum plans and materials.” . Promoting transparency and strong relationships between parents, teachers, and schools is essential, especially after the pandemic has set students back academically and emotionally. Not only do parents want to be involved, but research consistently shows a significant correlation between parental involvement and academic achievement. It is the right and duty of parents to be involved in their children's education.
Rep. Lee appears to have found research showing that the majority of parents are satisfied with their children's education and the general state of K-12 education. Parents don't want schools and teachers' unions to impose ideologies on students at an alarming rate, especially without their knowledge or consent.