DETROIT — The Michigan Democratic Party gave Republicans — and parents — a gift last weekend. It showed everyone what the party really believes.
And it's scary stuff.
In a Facebook post, the Democrats made it crystal clear that parents don't have any business interfering in their children's education.
After backlash ensued, party officials took down the post, but don't think for an instant they didn't mean every word.
Read it for yourself:
"Not sure where this 'parents should control what is taught in schools because they are our kids' is originating, but parents do have the option to choose to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense if this is what they desire.
"The purpose of a public education in a public school is not to teach kids only what parents want them to be taught. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client of the public school is not the parent, but the entire community, the public."
I think most parents would take issue with that, especially following several years of forced remote learning and controversial messages surrounding race and gender showing up in classrooms. It's also insulting to parents who pay taxes to support public schools, but don't have the resources to choose a private school.
In Virginia last fall, now Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin harnessed the frustration parents felt with COVID closures, mask mandates and what their children were being taught.
When his opponent, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, said in a debate, "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach," that pretty much sealed his fate.
I guess Michigan Democrats weren't paying attention.
The message they broadcast goes against the state school code, too, which says: "It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children."
This is a right Michigan parents need to reclaim. Too many families are getting taken advantage of by Democrats and the teachers unions who fund them. This is apparent in the ongoing wars over whether schools are "safe" to open, which has wreaked havoc on parents, especially mothers who've had to quit their jobs over the uncertainty.
A recent study showed that schools in counties with Democratic voting bases — which also tend to have schools with the strongest teachers unions — were three times more likely to go virtual during the pandemic.
It's still happening. In Detroit, students aren't welcome back for the rest of the month, and in Flint, the district is closed to in-person learning "indefinitely."
This is despite these two districts landing a crazy amount of federal virus aid for schools. For instance, the Detroit Public Schools Community District got about $24,000 per child. Flint schools received more than $40,000 per student.
And they still can't figure out how to get kids back to class? It's unconscionable.
A recent study from Michigan State University's Education Policy Innovation Collaboration reinforces what other national studies had discovered: That students fared worse when their schools were remote. And this impacted minority and poor students the most as they often live in districts likely to shut down.
Throw in debates over masking and critical race theory and no wonder parents around the country are looking for different options. The country celebrates school choice this week, and National School Choice Week, the group behind the effort, recently released a poll showing that more than half of parents in the U.S. have actively considered a new school in the last year.
In Michigan, private school choice with taxpayer support is still barred, although charter schools, including virtual ones that are well-equipped to handle online learning (unlike traditional districts), are options for families.
There are several efforts underway to expand choice here. Parents who don't believe that their kids should be indoctrinated with what "society needs them to know" should get on board.
And they should remember what Democrats really think come November.
