Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a senior member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, joined House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s roundtable discussion to discuss the importance of parental engagement in a child’s education.
Click here or on the image above to watch Stefanik’s opening statement.
Stefanik began the roundtable discussion with the following remarks:
“Education has been integral in my life. I am proud to be the first member of my immediate family to graduate from college, and I know how important it is as a new mom to make sure we have the best education possible for every child in America.”
On the pandemic’s impact on education:
“What we have seen over these past two years as we have gone through an unprecedented crisis because of COVID, we have seen kids masked, we have seen schools closed, and parents have been able to look through a window at a very flawed curriculum.
“Parents are right to be concerned when they see their children being taught radical ideologies, when they see their kids forced to be masked, and when they see their kids forced to learn at home rather than in-person at school.
“I want to credit North Country schools who have been committed from the beginning of this pandemic to make sure their schools are open. That’s because they are listening to their families in their district.”
On the Biden Administration’s war on parents
“Parents have expressed very real concerns about their children’s education, and the Biden Administration took unconscionable action to silence parents by mobilizing the FBI to intervene at School Board meetings. This is truly unprecedented.
“What we now know is the Secretary of Education, Secretary Cardona, and the Biden Administration not only coordinated, they solicited a letter from the National School Board Association, which was then used by Attorney General Merrick Garland to set up a new office in the Department of Justice specifically targeting parents under the guise of so-called ‘domestic terrorists.’ This is a war on parents, and it should outrage every family across this country.”
On the importance of parental engagement:
“Parents are not domestic terrorists. Parents are integral to their kids’ education. Every teacher that I experienced growing up will tell you [that] a great indicator of a student’s success is were their parents engaged in their kids’ education.”
Stefanik wrote an op-ed with Dr. Virginia Foxx, Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Labor, on the importance of parental engagement and is a cosponsor of the Parents Bill of Rights.
