The Republican Party is aggressively trying to take over America's schools and are not receiving an adequate response from Democrats, according to a new analysis in The Washington Post.
The newspaper published Paul Waldman's analysis under the headline, "Republicans are waging a war on schools. When will Democrats fight back?"
"Republicans have moved from hyping the boogeyman of critical race theory to taking practical steps to criminalize honest classroom discussions and ban books, turning their manufactured race and sex panic into profound political and educational change. Meanwhile, Democrats have done almost nothing about it, watching it all with a kind of paralyzed confusion," Waldman wrote.
He explained how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced a "Stop Woke Act" and defended it on Fox News as being able to go after "other inappropriate content" beyond critical race theory.
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"If you liked the Texas bill that effectively banned abortion in the state, you’re in luck. Republicans apparently want to use a version of that bill’s tactic — putting enforcement in the hands of private vigilantes — to make teachers and school administrators live under the same fear as abortion providers," he wrote. "Everywhere you look, Republicans are trying to outdo one another with state laws forcing teachers to parrot far-right propaganda to students."
Waldman noted that instead of trying to refute Republicans manufactured outrage, Democrats could go on the offensive.
"Republicans want to subject our kids to fascist indoctrination. Why do they want to teach our kids that slavery wasn’t bad? Why are they trying to ban books? Who’s writing their education policy, David Duke? Don’t let them destroy your schools!" he offered as an example.
Waldman said that would be an "unfair exaggeration of what most Republicans actually want," but wondered if there might be a better way than refutation.
"Or maybe being reasonable isn’t the best place to start when you’re being overrun. Maybe Democrats need to begin not with a response to Republican lies about what happens in the classroom, but an attack on what Republicans are trying to do to American education," he wrote. "The implications of the GOP war on schools and teachers are horrifying, and with some exceptions, Democrats are watching it happen without anything resembling a plan to do anything about it. It might be time for all the party’s clever strategists to give it some thought."
Read the full report.
