1 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newts World, we're going to talk 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: about why the American education system is failing. In his 3 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: new book Race to the Bottom, Uncovering the Secret forces 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: destroying American public Education, Luke Rosiac reveals the powerful special 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: interest groups who are using our kids in vast ideological experiments. 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: These groups initiatives aren't focused on making children smarter, but 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: are implementing a radical agenda, no matter the effect on 8 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: academic standards. Nonprofits pump billions into initiatives meant to address 9 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: racial inequities rather than fixing the problem. Districts with a 10 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: big gap between white and black test scores higher consultants 11 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: who claim the tests are meaningless because they are quote racist. 12 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: These consultants judgments allow school districts to ignore their own failures, 13 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: ultimately hurting minority students and perpetuating racism. I'm really please 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: to welcome my guest, Luke Rosiak. He's an investigative reporter 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: with the Daily Wire. He previously worked as a journalist 16 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: of The Daily Caller and The Washington Post and as 17 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: the author of the congressional scandal true thriller Obstruction of Justice. Luke, 18 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: thank you for joining me, and I want to say 19 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: to our listeners. You were actually guest number two on 20 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: Newts World in our second episode of the podcast entitled 21 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: The con Man of Congress. Now you're in a totally 22 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: different topic and I'm curious, why did you decide to 23 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: write Race to the Bottom. Well, Nude, it's great to 24 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: be back with you again after a busy two years 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: for both of us. Back in twenty nineteen, I live 26 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: in Fairfax County, Virginia, and they started trying to do 27 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: bussing here and I started to get interested in the 28 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: local school system because it affected me personally. Bussing is 29 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,919 Speaker 1: one of those things that you select a home oftentimes 30 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: because of the local school district, and schools are so 31 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: important to the community. It's where kids get together with 32 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: their friends, it's where the community convenes for various functions. 33 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: And it felt like a really personal incursion on my life, 34 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: a significant transformation of the community that no one was 35 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: asking for. And so as I started to look into 36 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: for my own personal reasons, the Fairfax County School Board, 37 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: what I found is that all of the members were 38 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: there for their own reasons that had nothing to do 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: whatsoever with education. There was one who's there just to 40 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: push environmentalism, one who was there to push gay rights, 41 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,959 Speaker 1: one who was there to push fundamental Islam. Just kind 42 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: of crazy backgrounds, and they almost never actually talked about 43 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: education in these school board meetings. The second thing that 44 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: really cemented my interest in turning this into an investigative 45 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: project in terms of my journalism, which is typically focused 46 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: on national stuff, is when the same exact thing started 47 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: happening in other neighboring counties, like Howard County, mayor in 48 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: Montgomery County, Maryland. It was kind of spreading across the 49 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: whole area, almost like they were coordinating. And so I 50 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: started realizing number one, that local government is very important, 51 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: but that people hadn't often thought about it. We're oftentimes 52 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: thinking about national stuff more and that number two, national 53 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: interests had actually systematically taken over a lot of local 54 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: governments to sort of enact this very radical agenda. And 55 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: I kind of think of it as going through the 56 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: back door. While we're all looking in one direction, they're 57 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: coming in through this other direction. So when you began 58 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: looking into it, were you surprised by what you discovered? 59 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: I was shocked, And I mean, in one sense, this 60 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: is kind of for a long time, many of us, 61 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: myself included, didn't pay attention to this stuff, and we 62 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: should because schools are clearly one of the most important 63 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: things that government does. They've got our kids for oftentimes 64 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: more waking hours than we do as parents, and by 65 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: all objective measures, they're not doing very well. The United 66 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: States is like thirtieth out of thirty six developed countries 67 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: in math. There's all kinds of really horrifying metrics about 68 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: whether kids are actually learning the fundamentals. And for the 69 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: longest time this was kind of going on with no 70 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: one paying attention, and we would hear these things like 71 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: schools are underfunded, and people just would kind of believe them, 72 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: or we would hear like, oh, you know, we should 73 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: get rid of standardized tests because their high stakes testing 74 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: and teachers are forced to teach to the test. And 75 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: you know, even myself, I didn't really know what to think. 76 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: You know, I want my kids to have a creative 77 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: side too. I don't want them to just do like 78 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: drill and kill all day. And I didn't know what 79 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: to make of things. And I realized there's just this 80 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: cartel that is just lying to us, and none of 81 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: it was true, and so I set off on this 82 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: two year investigation, and I had assistance from Peter Schweitzer, 83 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: who I know you spoke with a couple of weeks ago, 84 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: and you know what a great investigator he is, and 85 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: he was able to bring some muscle to this and 86 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: do this really massive nationwide investigation that determined that there's 87 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: just a level of sort of intellectual bankruptcy to these 88 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: schools all across the the country that has really been 89 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: going on for decades. And shortly after I started writing 90 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: the book, I kind of saw this before coronavirus and 91 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: sort of the awakening that parents had when they saw 92 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: that curriculum because of remote learning, they started to see 93 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: all the critical race theory and everything. But I saw 94 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 1: it beforehand. But what I also learned through my research 95 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: is all of these things that parents are now becoming 96 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: awakened too. It's really symptoms of these more fundamental issues 97 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: that have been going on for decades in America's public schools. 98 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: When you were digging into this, did it strike you 99 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: how many places would not share information with parents. Yeah, 100 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: And it's crazy because as a reporter, I can file 101 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: a Freedom of Information Act request to any government agency 102 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: and if it doesn't implicate something like national security. They'll 103 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: give you that information and you can even get a 104 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: fee waiver if you're a journalist, so they won't charge 105 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: you money and it might take a while, but you'll 106 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: get it eventually. When I started doing foys to my 107 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: local school system, Fairfax County, they just wouldn't respond at all, 108 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: which is illegal, or they would try to charge. They 109 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: wouldn't even give a dollar amount. They would just say 110 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: it's going to be tens of thousands of dollars, so 111 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: you might as well withdraw your request. It was just 112 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: almost like the mob was running the place. And this 113 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: is kind of the most local form of government to me, 114 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: because we don't have a town government you're in Virginia, 115 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: the county is the most local form. And there was 116 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: nowhere I could turn to just kind of find out 117 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: what my kids were learning, which is like such a 118 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: fundamental thing that any Americans should be entitled too, and 119 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: it's concerning in its own right, but it also tells 120 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: you a lot about the mentality of the people that 121 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: are running these places. When you learn, for example, that 122 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: Baltimore spends nineteen thousand dollars per student, but thirteen of 123 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,119 Speaker 1: the thirty nine high schools did not have a single 124 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: student proficient in math. I mean, how do you spend 125 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: that kind of money and not educate anybody. Yeah, people 126 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: can't even wrap their head around it. And I think 127 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons people believe the trope that 128 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: schools are underfunded is because we can't fathom that someone 129 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: could take nineteen thousand dollars per kid and not cause 130 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: a single child to be proficient in math. It just 131 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: doesn't seem possible that anyone could be so incompetent. But 132 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: they are, and they've managed to turn this around for 133 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: their own gain and say, well, we must need more money. 134 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: And so that's where the word equity comes in, as 135 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: equity is defined by equal outcomes, and so they basically say, 136 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: look until we reach educational parody, where the kids in 137 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: Baltimore are just as academically adapt as the kids elsewhere, 138 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: we need more money. But as you indicated, the money 139 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: isn't the problem, and so it just sets up this 140 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: never ending spigot of money that just kind of flows 141 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: to the teachers' unions, into the administrators without really helping 142 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: the kids at all. Well, I was really struck that 143 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: the teachers union has adopted a sort of a perfectly 144 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: rational strategy of trying to maximize our political influence. It. 145 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: The National Education Association, which is America's largest labor union, 146 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: spend one hundred and forty three million dollars to federal 147 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: candidates and committees from nineteen ninety to twenty nineteen, ninety 148 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: seven percent of those to Democrats. The American Federation of 149 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: Teachers spent over seventy nine million dollars helping Democrats getting 150 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: elected to federal office. In twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen, 151 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: the Chicago Teachers Union Pact donated one hundred and thirty 152 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: three thousand dollars to the campaign of Cook County Commissioner 153 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: Brandon Johnson, who, by the way, was also on the 154 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: staff of the Teachers Union as a registered lobbyist, so 155 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: they had him coming and going. I mean, to what 156 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: extent does this kind of interest group dominance of elections 157 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: at the local level really undermine the concept that they 158 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: are genuinely local. It's not only an astonishing amount of money, 159 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: but as you suggested, whether you apply that amount of 160 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: money to downballot races that typically don't attract that much attention, 161 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: its influence is magnified even further. Basically, the foundations are 162 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: part of this, the philanthropic foundations. They've adopted a similar 163 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: strategy to the teachers unions, where it's like the Ford Foundation, 164 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: the MacArthur Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, and I found that 165 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: those are part and parcel. They work alongside the teachers 166 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: unions and they all shovel these huge amounts of cash 167 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: into local government, which is a very savvy investment strategy 168 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: because a bucksher does go a lot further there. The 169 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: other thing is that parents have typically kind of taken 170 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: a hands off approach, at least until the last couple 171 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: of years in school boards, where they didn't know who 172 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: any of these people were, and they were just either 173 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: voting for them because of the party signifier after their name, 174 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: if they were upfront about this being a partisan race, 175 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: which it always is, whether it's formally or informally partisan, 176 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: just voting for someone because they were a Democrat or 177 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: because they were either a teacher, which they thought that 178 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: meant they were qualified to be on a school board, 179 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: or they were endorsed by the teachers union. But it's 180 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: a total conflict of interest. I mean, this is like 181 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: you don't put a teacher on a school board. They're 182 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: supposed to be overseeing the schools, and it sets up 183 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,839 Speaker 1: the situation where the bargaining is really the teachers on 184 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: one side of the table and then the teachers labor 185 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: union on the other side of the table. It's one 186 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,959 Speaker 1: thing to think of them in a traditional libor union sense, 187 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: but they're also so ideologically anti achievement. I noticed that, 188 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: for example, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, who's 189 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: an eighty million dollars organization, trains teachers and encourages anti 190 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: racist grading, whatever that means. In San Diego they announced, 191 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,959 Speaker 1: quote students will no longer be docked in their academic 192 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: grades for turning work in late or other factors related 193 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 1: to work habits. Now. I sort of thought part of 194 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: the purpose of going to school was to learn work habits, 195 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: and in San Diego, work habits now are not to 196 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: be a factor in grading you. Seattle began teaching that 197 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,599 Speaker 1: math is quote used to oppress and marginalize people and 198 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: communities of color. And in Illinois, the Mathematics Science Academy, 199 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: which is ranked the top public high school in Illinois, 200 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,359 Speaker 1: began teaching in only twenty twenty that quote like whiteness, 201 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: math operates as an owner and privilege. Now I don't 202 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: actually understand what that means. I thought math was math, 203 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: and that it was good to learn math because then 204 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: you could actually do things like make change if you 205 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: worked at McDonald's. There's this whole pattern against grades, against standards, 206 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: and in particular against math, because math is apparently something 207 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 1: that which is so clearly right or wrong that it 208 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: offends the left idea of how the world works. Do 209 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: you find yourself encountering this kind of attitude across the board? Yeah, 210 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: And I think that's kind of the fundamental argument throughout 211 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: this book, which is that the schools are failing, and 212 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: instead of trying to fix them, they've settled on this 213 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: Enron like strategy of just kind of moving numbers around 214 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: and finding ways to conceal what's actually going on. So 215 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:57,839 Speaker 1: rather than be better, they just try to look better. 216 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,719 Speaker 1: And so anytime you have objective measures of performance, they 217 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: try to destroy it. That's why the teachers unions say 218 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: that there's high stakes testing, which is total bs. There's 219 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: no such thing. That's why they oppose math, because you 220 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: do either have the right answer, you don't. They have 221 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: all these acronyms, and they really try to confuse parents 222 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: and think you're just not smart as them because you 223 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 1: don't know what they're talking about. I had the luxury 224 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: of taking two years, so I was able to read 225 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,199 Speaker 1: all their papers and understand all their acronyms. Trust me 226 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: when I say that parents aren't missing out on anything. 227 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: These ideas are not very smart. So they have one 228 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: called SBA Standards based Assessments, and that's what they want 229 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: to do. Instead of letter grades abcd F, they want 230 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: you to be graded in a way that is on 231 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: a four point scale one, two, three, four, And the 232 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: reason for that is very simple. The highest you can 233 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: get is a four, So if you think about that mathematically, 234 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: that equates to a seventy five percent and up. So 235 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: what used to be a C is now the equivalent 236 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,079 Speaker 1: of an A. It's all designed to conceal the fact 237 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: that they are not teaching these kids. And so that's 238 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: what we have here as the schools failing kids abysmally, 239 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: just sending them out to a lifetime on the welfare 240 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: roles and on happiness, and they're just content to continue 241 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: doing that as long as we don't find out about it. 242 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: One of the things I found the most puzzling. I'd 243 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: love to get your reaction to. With a the annual 244 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: National Education Association Conference in twenty nineteen, there was a 245 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: motion to quote rededicate itself to the pursuit of increased 246 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: student learning in every public school in America by putting 247 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: a renewed emphasis and quality education. That proposal was voted down. 248 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: Why would a teachers association vote down the pursuit of 249 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: increased student learning with a renewed emphasis and quality education? Correct? 250 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: And I believe during that same session they'd voted in 251 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: favor of policies advancing reparations for slavery, blaming America's foreign 252 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:14,199 Speaker 1: policy for problems in Latin America, and putting like sixteen 253 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: nineteen project in schools and things like that. So there 254 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: is this focus on race that has completely overtaken all 255 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: the discourse around schools. And people want you to believe 256 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: it's like people oppose the teaching of slavery. Come on, 257 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: that's such a red herring. No one has ever suggested 258 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: such a thing. There's not a school in America that 259 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: hasn't taught about slavery. What people are seeing is they 260 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: inject this all the time twenty four hours a day 261 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: into every subject. It's all they ever talk about. And 262 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: so it's funny because they say, oh, with all the 263 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: talk of critical race theory, people are just being influenced 264 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: by the media or Fox News or whatever. This is 265 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: the one thing that parents don't need to rely on 266 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: the media for. They're seeing it firsthand, and so when 267 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: you gaslight them, it doesn't work because it's just all 268 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: race all the time. There's an Education research basically this 269 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: professional conference where all the education researchers get together, the 270 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 1: top professors that set the agenda, and they talked about 271 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: critical race theory in their twenty nineteen conference something like 272 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: two hundred times and reading only fifty seven times. And 273 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: this is twenty nineteen before critical race theories, so you 274 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: can see how they're kind of before critical race story 275 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: kind of entered the mainstream lexicon. So you can see 276 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: how years ago they were setting the stage for this stuff, 277 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: and that it comes at the total displacement of focusing 278 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: on reading, writing, math, and science. And the funny thing is, 279 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: and it's kind of an obvious thing, but it's worth 280 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: saying because the left and the progressive educators never do so, 281 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: is that we all want kids to do well. We 282 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: all want kids to be lifted up. The way to 283 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: do that is by teaching them math and science and 284 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: giving them those skills that render them assets to employers. 285 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: They've actually turned against that with things like quote cult 286 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: truly responsive sustaining education. It's just kind of these crazy 287 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: acronyms that they have. But I've read all the papers 288 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: that spell out what this means, and they actually say 289 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: that teaching minority kids the skills they need to be 290 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: good employees is bad because it serves to indoctrinate and 291 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: assimilate them into dominant society. And so it's not just 292 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: that they're failing, or maybe it is that they're failing, 293 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: and they've kind of tried to own it by saying, well, 294 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: it's intentional that we're failing. But the net effect is 295 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: the preservation of these racial inequalities that they claim to 296 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: be against. What we've seen then is sort of a 297 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: dual negative. On the one front, they no longer want 298 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: to establish standards. On the other front, they want to 299 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: brainwash the kids into a series of left wing values 300 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: that add nothing to their ability to be a good 301 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: citizen or to get a job or function in life, 302 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: and so you have both of these things happening in 303 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: the same time period. Yeah, and they're part and parcel 304 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: because the indoctrination is more subjective and it's a lot 305 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: easier to give out a's in when it comes to civics. 306 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,400 Speaker 1: Only twelve percent of twelfth graders are proficient in civics 307 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: according to the NAP, which is like the nation's report card, 308 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:12,119 Speaker 1: So that's really devastating. Basically, the immigrants who come to 309 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: this country and pass this exam and who we grant 310 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: citizenship too, they can pass this test. It's our Americans 311 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: who can't pass the citizenship test. And so they've tried 312 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,239 Speaker 1: to do things like quote action civics, which is, okay, well, 313 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: the kids have no idea what America stands for and 314 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: how our government works, but we're going to turn them 315 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,679 Speaker 1: into little lobbyists and it's kind of like putting an 316 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: unlicensed driver on the road. But they'll send them out there, 317 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: and it's usually for like the teachers Union's pet cause 318 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: is like, what do you know the kids have practiced 319 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: action civics by protesting for pay raises for teachers. But 320 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,440 Speaker 1: it's an example of how all this indoctrination it becomes 321 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: a lot easier to give an a in because as 322 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: long as you comply, or your obedient, or you espouse 323 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: the right causes, or fill out a little you know, 324 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: draw them the picture in crayons or something, as long 325 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: as it echas the type of indoctrination that they want, 326 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: they can give you an A. And what they're desperate 327 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: to do is to take the focus off of the 328 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 1: figures that matter, which is, you know, something like twenty 329 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: six percent being proficient in math. These are devastating statistics 330 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: for America, and it's easy to put them out of mind. 331 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: Is just a number, but it's so much more real 332 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: than that. I mean, those twelfth graders. These are figures 333 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 1: for twelfth graders, So they're going to be in the 334 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: workforce or in college or voting that same year the 335 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: next year. If we don't have kids who can do 336 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: math and science, we're going to have people dying because 337 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: of the absence of medical expertise. We're going to have 338 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: declining quality of life because people aren't out there to 339 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: invent technologies that increase quality of life for everyone. And 340 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: then obviously our country itself, if we don't have an 341 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: informed citizens, really who understands sort of what America stands for. 342 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: That's its own peril. But basically, yeah, this isn't far 343 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 1: out either. I mean, these are eighteen year olds. They're 344 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: going to become the working generation within just a few years, 345 00:18:50,240 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: and it's really an imminent crisis for America. Well, as 346 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: you say in the book, waste to the bottom, the 347 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: lack of proficiency in math and science, the poor reading skills, 348 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,199 Speaker 1: and the abysmal teaching of civics threaten every technological and 349 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: societal advance we've made. That's a pretty strong statement. Well, 350 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: it's true though, I mean, as you said, teachers, it 351 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: has always been their job to help kids read. And 352 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,919 Speaker 1: now we have these consultants who are coming in and 353 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: saying things like worship of the written word is an 354 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: attribute of whiteness. And who has ever thought we would 355 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: live in such a world where teachers were telling kids 356 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: reading doesn't matter, and you have actually these consultants with 357 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: massive reach you are coming in and just saying these 358 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: ideas constantly. So wait a second, if reading doesn't matter, 359 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: and if math doesn't matter, why are they in school 360 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: and why are we paying the teachers. It is the 361 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: Teachers Union's view that the schools as employment centers for adults, 362 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: and that's not why we have them. If that's all 363 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: they're therefore, we can shut them all down. Because the 364 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: schools have only one job, which is to teach the 365 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: kids the basics. They're not doing that at all. They 366 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: have welcomed these consultants in who are saying things like 367 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: whiteness is showing up on time, valuing getting the right answer, 368 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 1: and claiming that things like objectivity are real when objectivity 369 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: is not real, whereas authentic people of color, they claim, 370 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: don't value getting the right answer, and they value things 371 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,479 Speaker 1: like communal property. It's just sort of these super creepy 372 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: and bizarre racial ideas that no one agrees with. I mean, 373 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: I live here in Fairfax County. Most of my neighbors 374 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: are Democrats. I've never heard them say anything like that. 375 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,959 Speaker 1: It's they're not even democrat ideas. They're insane ideas. But 376 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,199 Speaker 1: the teachers have welcomed them with open arms. And the 377 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: reason is the consultants and the foundations pushing them have 378 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: their own reasons for propagating these bizarre ideas. The teachers 379 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:57,360 Speaker 1: and administrators reason for adopting them are cynical. It comes 380 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: back to. It helps them because it hides the stats. 381 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: It gets focus off of what they're failing to do, 382 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,119 Speaker 1: which is teach the kids. But it's also you know, 383 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,239 Speaker 1: one of the things that I think about often is 384 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: everything is so politicized. Now everything's about Democrat versus Republican. 385 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 1: But what it's doing to the kids, this is really 386 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 1: a question of happiness. To me, we all want our 387 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 1: kids to be happy, and we're telling these kids NonStop 388 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,639 Speaker 1: that they are the victims of oppression in ways that 389 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,640 Speaker 1: they can't contextualize because sometimes they're only six or seven 390 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: years old. It's just not good. The kids can't do 391 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: anything to fix anything. You're just telling them negative ideas 392 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: and making these kids unhappy. And that's kind of the 393 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,920 Speaker 1: thing that probably bothers me the most. I noticed. For example, 394 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: you live in Fairfax, but as I understand it, in 395 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, of the ten Democrats on the school board, 396 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: none zero had children in schools. Correct. It just blows 397 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: your mind thinking about that. I'm going to repeat it 398 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: again just because what you said is so important. There 399 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: was not a single Democrat on the Fairfax County school 400 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: Board that had a child in the school system. They 401 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: were all there for their own reasons that were unrelated 402 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: political cause, as many of them far to the left 403 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: of their constituency and they were elected in these super 404 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,919 Speaker 1: low turnout elections, no one was paying attention. Part of 405 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: what's happened is with these off year elections and with 406 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 1: low turnout elections, the teachers unions can basically pick and 407 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: choose because they're the only people with resources, who are 408 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,880 Speaker 1: active and with organization, who are actively engaged in trying 409 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,680 Speaker 1: to pick school boards. Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, 410 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,119 Speaker 1: they basically have our money. We're paying them seventeen thousand 411 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: dollars a year for student in Fairfax and the teachers 412 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: unions they have where the taxpayer money pays the full 413 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: time union reps to do their labor organizing, and they're 414 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: using that money against us. Basically regular people could not 415 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: compete in the past. They think that's changing now because 416 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: obviously they overplay their hands by shutting down schools for 417 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: so long, especially in Virginia where our parents couldn't help 418 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 1: but get involved. So it's going to be interesting moving forward. 419 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: But there is this tremendous capture of essentially every educational institution. 420 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: It's the teachers unions but then it's also the associations 421 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: that bring together the superintendents and the administrators and things 422 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: like that. And then of course the National school Boards Association, 423 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:15,919 Speaker 1: that group that called parents domestic terrorists. Right, So the 424 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: idea that you would actually show up at a school 425 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,119 Speaker 1: board meeting made you a terrorist. Yeah. And it's funny 426 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: because I spent two years writing this book, Race to 427 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: the Bottom, and through my research in this book, I 428 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: became well sourced in Louden County public schools, and I 429 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: was able to break the story about the loud and 430 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,119 Speaker 1: rate in the bathroom of that girl's restroom for the 431 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,640 Speaker 1: Daily Wire, and that kind of really woke people up 432 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: because it underscored, basically, for those that don't remember the story, 433 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: there was a boy who was wearing a skirt and 434 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,159 Speaker 1: a girl's blouse raped a ninth grade girl in the 435 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: bathroom of a Louden County high school, and the school 436 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: system repeatedly lied about it. They lied to it about 437 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: it in a school board meeting, they reported fall statistics 438 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: about it to the state, and the boy was just 439 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: transferred to another school where he went on to assault 440 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: a second girl in a classroom. And so this school system, 441 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:14,520 Speaker 1: the fundamental dishonesty of it was galling because it caused, 442 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,719 Speaker 1: at a minimum, the second girl to be victimized, and 443 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: so it underscored how these people are such zealots that 444 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: they will do anything to get their way. They don't 445 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 1: care what the collateral damage is. And it kind of 446 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: comes back to what we've seen broadly with the masks 447 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,399 Speaker 1: and with critical race theory. These are special interests that 448 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: have taken over our schools and they're willing to inflict emotional, physical, 449 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 1: and sexual abuse on your children to get their way. 450 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: I thought, by the way, the work you did in 451 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 1: Loudon County ultimately came back and played a significant role 452 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: in young Kins winning the governorship because so many people 453 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: were enraged the more they learned about how dishonest the 454 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: school board was and the degree to which they basically 455 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: allowed it a serial sexual predator to go from school 456 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: to school without any kind of warning. It's an astonishing 457 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:06,959 Speaker 1: story that you did a great job of breaking in. 458 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: I think it did play a significant role in helping 459 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: young Can win the governorship. Thank you so much. And 460 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: you know, one of the things that I think the 461 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 1: story has become so well known that in some respects 462 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: there's been sort of a misconception about it. People start 463 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: to say, well, I'm glad I don't live in Virginia 464 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: because I know the schools there are really bad. That 465 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: was never the intention. I mean, I reported on Fairfax 466 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: and Loudon because it was the school district's most immediate 467 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: to my house. And the problems they are real and 468 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: so terrible, but they primarily function as case studies. The 469 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 1: idea is that there are thirteen thousand school districts in 470 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 1: the country. A lot of the local media has either 471 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,120 Speaker 1: because of economic forces that local newspapers have shut down 472 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: and things like that, or they're just not doing their jobs. Well, 473 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: I can't go to every school district in the country 474 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: and eliminate these problems, but Loudon County schools are essentially 475 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 1: a case study in the problems that you see there 476 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: are the problems that you see everywhere. And that's kind 477 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: of what I've tried to do in this book is 478 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 1: I talk about sixty one different school systems, but I 479 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: also talk through those case studies, try to illuminate the 480 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: phenomena that you're likely to see in your school districts, 481 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: because that's what people have got to know is This 482 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: isn't a Virginia problem. This is everywhere. You have groups 483 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 1: like Learning for Justice, which is a project of the 484 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: Southern Poverty Law Center, and what they'll do is create 485 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: lesson plans for teachers. And the teachers may not even 486 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: be that liberal, they may just be lazy and they 487 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: don't want to create a lesson plan. So someone's done 488 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: their work for them and they'll start giving these lesson 489 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,680 Speaker 1: plans out. And even the state of Indiana, their state 490 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: Department of Education has embraced the Southern Poverty Law Center groups. 491 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,920 Speaker 1: So it's everywhere. It's in conservative districts, purple suburbs, obviously, 492 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: the left leaning cities, and this is really a national problem. 493 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: You think that the whole move towards parental choice and 494 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,679 Speaker 1: the ability to go to charter schools or to pick 495 00:26:57,760 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: the school you want to a child to go to 496 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: having a significant part of whatever our future solution will be. 497 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:06,919 Speaker 1: You know, I think it has to be for a 498 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 1: couple different reasons. One of them is that the more 499 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 1: you look at these equity initiatives, and you know, people 500 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 1: talk about critical race theory, I like to call it 501 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: equity because that's what the school systems call it critical 502 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: race theory and equity are the same thing. But your 503 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: school districts is not going to say they do critical 504 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: race theory. If they say they do equity, what they're 505 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: doing is critical race theory. But what these school districts 506 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: are doing, even the progressives, they can't agree what they want. 507 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: So you have some of the ones who want to 508 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 1: do things like bussing, and the ideas well, the demographics 509 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: have to be the same as whatever jurisdiction they choose, 510 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: and then other people will say, well, we want to 511 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: do a culturally responsive education. We want to get all 512 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,959 Speaker 1: the black kids together so that they can value their 513 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,239 Speaker 1: culture and do rap or whatever, and without weighing in 514 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: on the merits of those ideas, clearly one can see 515 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,919 Speaker 1: these are both the progressives offering completely contradictory ideas of 516 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: what schools should be. Even the liberals can't agree on 517 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,399 Speaker 1: what schools should be. I think that the point is 518 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: that we do have a very large and diverse country 519 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: where we're not all going to have the same idea 520 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: about what the best form of education is for our kids. 521 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 1: So I think we have to agree that being able 522 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: to choose schools, and if you like the culturally responsive, 523 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,639 Speaker 1: even though that's a dressed up name for racial segregation. 524 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 1: If you want that, then go to a charter school 525 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: that will provide that, or a private school. If you 526 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,120 Speaker 1: want the busing that kind of diversity, go for that. 527 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,120 Speaker 1: Everyone's going to have to be able to just choose 528 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 1: their own school if we can't agree, because otherwise it's 529 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: just a recipe for constant strife. So I think it's 530 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: reflected in the polls that there is bipartisan support for 531 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: school choice because there are reasons for even Democrats to 532 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: like it. So if you could maybe put a ballot referendum, 533 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: get that to voters, so you could circumvent because the 534 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: politicians aren't going to do it because the teachers unions 535 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: are donating to the politicians. But if you could put 536 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: it to voters, and if you could counteract, obviously the 537 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 1: massive blitz that the teachers unions would put out, like 538 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: in terms of knocking on your doors and sending oilers out, 539 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: I think you could potentially pass school choice if it 540 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: was put directly to voters. But I think we shouldn't 541 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,719 Speaker 1: give up public schools either, because I think for a 542 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: long time that's what Republicans did is said, well, I 543 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: don't really know about public schools. I don't really care. 544 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: I just think my position is we should let the 545 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: kids out of them, and that may well be true. 546 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:19,959 Speaker 1: But as long as we have public schools, we have 547 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 1: to pay attention to their operations. The devil is in 548 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: the details. It's hard work. One of the things I 549 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: found through this book is that those who are coming 550 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: for your kids, they are oftentimes not famous names. It's 551 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: not Joe Biden. It's more detailed than that. You've got 552 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: to learn about who the bad guys are, and I 553 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 1: name names in this book. But also if it's in 554 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 1: your town, you're probably going to have to do the 555 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: work to figure out who the bad guys are in 556 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,720 Speaker 1: your town. Because I want to do the school choice thing, 557 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: but I don't want to absolve Republicans from caring about 558 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: what is going on in the public schools now, so 559 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 1: no one, thank you for joining me. I want to 560 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: encourage our listeners who are concerned about our education system 561 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: to pick up a copy of your new book, Race 562 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: to the Bottom, Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying the American 563 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: Public Education, which is available for pre order today and 564 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: we'll be out this Tuesday. March eight. Thank you to 565 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: my guest Luke Rosiac. You can get a link to 566 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: order his book Race to the Bottom, on covering the 567 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: secret forces destroying American public education on our show page 568 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: at newtsworld dot com. News World is produced by Gingwich 569 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: Street sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Garnsey Sloan, 570 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: our producer is Rebecca Howe, and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 571 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 572 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: Special thanks to the team at Gingwish three sixty. If 573 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: you've been enjoying Newsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple 574 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give 575 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,480 Speaker 1: us a review so others can learn what it's all about. 576 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: Right now, listeners of news World can sign up from 577 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: my three free weekly columns at Gingwiste sixty dot com 578 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: slash newsletter. I'm new Kangwage. This is neutral