A liberal parental advocate scolded President Biden for his "insufficient" approach to taking on conservatives when it comes to classroom issues dominating the national conversation, such as biological men playing women’s sports and how Black history is taught.
A Washington Post report on Sunday detailed how some left-leaning activists want the president to "confront conservatives more directly on school-related issues." The report noted Biden has started pushing back against conservatives on polarizing education issues but in an "often-indirect way while trying to stay focused on issues his campaign believes matter more to voters."
"Biden regularly denounces Republican efforts to remove or restrict certain books in schools, but he has opted against fully engaging in the culture wars being waged by many Republicans. Instead, Biden and his administration are emphasizing areas they see as more resonant: increasing school funding, combating pandemic-era learning loss and addressing students’ mental health," the Post reported before noting that conservatives are focused on transgender athletes in schools and critical race theory.
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The Post reported that some activists believe Biden’s "approach is insufficient." Among them is National Parents Union president Keri Rodrigues, who urged Biden to take on classroom issues "with his full chest" and prioritize the issue.
"I don’t think they’re doing anywhere nearly enough," Rodrigues told the paper.
The Post reported that the "Republican onslaught on education issues and what they call ‘parents’ rights,’ in contrast, has been far more full-throated and forceful, especially as they attack the way race and gender are discussed in public schools."
Rodrigues "said she has repeatedly urged the White House and the Education Department to take stronger stands, only to be rebuffed," according to the Post.
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"It was just met with a lot of nervousness and kind of a lack of urgency that we find pretty alarming," Rodrigues told the paper. "There’s a lot of fear. They’re afraid of backlash. They’re afraid of stepping in it."
According to her LinkedIn page, Rodrigues works for the Democratic National Committee's Ethnic Coordinating Council in addition to being President of the National Parents Union, which describes itself as a "network of parent organizations and grassroots activists across the country committed to improving the quality of life for children and families in the United States." She has regularly criticized the right-leaning Moms for Liberty, suggesting on social media the organization is racist.
The Post also reported that Biden is "moving gingerly" on cultural issues, with some initiatives being delayed or slow-played. Rodrigues then suggested the Education Department’s blog softened language on an entry her group helped write that addressed creating a "more inclusive and just education system for all children."
"It was nowhere near what we wanted to do in terms of calling out what we’re going through… there’s just a reluctance to say the thing, to address the elephant in the room. The elephant is stomping on our children. Our children are under attack," she told the paper.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates defended the Biden administration on classroom issues.
"President Biden took historic action to re-open our schools after the mismanaged covid response he inherited kept them closed. President Biden is equipping our schools to succeed in the 21st Century and set students up for success in the job market while congressional Republicans vote to defund them and abolish the Department of Education," Bates told Fox News Digital.
"President Biden is fighting to keep our children safe from gun crime while congressional Republicans choose gun industry lobbyists over protecting the most precious lives in our country," Bates continued. "And President Biden is working to ensure our schools treat everyone with dignity and respect, while Republican officials seek to exploit them for political division by pushing extreme book bans, discrimination, and concealing the full history of the greatest nation in the world."
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