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--:-- Georgia Howe: In recent years, education has shot to the top of many voters' list of issues. From prolonged school closures and controversial curriculum to poor test scores, many parents are ready to cast a vote for significant change. In this episode, we speak to an advocate on the front lines of the school choice movement about the progress conservative parents have made in shaping school policy since 2020.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's August 10th, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire. During this polarizing political season, security is top of mind for many Americans. Security for our country, security for our leaders, and security for our families. But what about your financial security? Gold and silver are an excellent way to diversify your savings. Through my friends at Birch Gold Group, you can own physical gold and silver in a tax-sheltered retirement account. Text WIRE to 989898 and receive a free no-obligation info kit to learn the role that precious metals play in your overall savings strategy. Again, text WIRE to 989898.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Joining us this morning to discuss the push for school choice is Nikki Neely, president and founder of Parents Defending Education. Nikki, thanks so much for coming on.
--:-- Nikki Neely: Thank you for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: First off, Nikki, we saw a banner year for school choice in 2022. What's the status of the movement now and what can we expect in this coming election cycle?
--:-- Nikki Neely: This past year in the state legislatures, there's been a lot of movement. I think what we're really looking forward to this upcoming cycle in 2025 is what's going to happen in Texas. There was a lot of electoral turnover in the state of Texas and then also most recently in Tennessee as well. And so I think that lays the foundation for a lot of exciting upcoming changes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I think in terms of kind of where there is the most choice right now, Florida, unsurprisingly, seems to be ahead of the pack. They've had a program in place for a long time, as has Arizona. And so it's interesting because we're watching both those constituents who have benefited from school choice over a long time to really be motivated to get out and vote.
--:-- Nikki Neely: You know, they see the benefits that this has had for their families. And we're also seeing families in states where choice is not an option. really watching families there not only cite those examples of why I wish we were like Florida, but also seeing people vote with their feet. And over the past couple of years, seeing families move into those states where there are better choice options for families.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How does this issue poll with voters right now? Is it still quite popular?
--:-- Nikki Neely: Overall, absolutely. It's something that across the board, spanning political lines, spanning racial lines families want and families need. So that been something that been really exciting to watch.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A recent poll that came out actually said that two thirds of black and Hispanic voters say Democrats aren focused enough on education. So I think that something that really should send warning signs through the Democratic Party, because this is an issue that for years and years, Democrats have kind of owned.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And I think, you know, looking back to 2021, looking back at school closures in Virginia, it's something where the Republicans started to make gains on. And so the more that the Republicans have started to run on the issue of school choice and prioritize that, the greater the implications will be for electoral success.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, I want to talk about Tennessee. There's been a lot of back and forth with regards to the Tennessee voucher program. Where does it stand right now and what's holding it up?
--:-- Nikki Neely: I think there's been a lot of reticence just in the legislature, but with the primaries that were held recently, I think there's been a surprising amount of turnover. And so I think the foundation has been laid for a lot of change to happen going forward.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I know the American Federation for Children's Tennessee chapter, Tennessee Federation for Children. Last week, they went 10 for three overall in their races. The Club for Growth School Freedom Fund also played very heavily. And a number of longtime opponents, incumbents who are opposed to school choice actually got knocked out.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And so I think that sends a clear message to the legislators, either get in line or frankly, you're not long for this world. And so, you know, we also saw Governor Lee start to step in and endorse an open house seat for the first time since he was elected in 2018, picking the strong school choice supporters in those races.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And so he's following in the footsteps of what Ron DeSantis has been doing, what Governor Kim Reynolds has been doing, starting to play in these primary races. And I think that also really played a big role in this.
--:-- Nikki Neely: Now, with the general election coming up, can you characterize the two different parties' platforms when it comes to school choice? You can maybe start with Donald Trump. What's his platform?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Donald Trump has been supportive of school choice. I mean, the fact that you have Betsy DeVos as his education secretary, this is her signature issue that she has worked on for decades. And so So him picking her as his secretary in 2016 really shows how committed he is to that.
--:-- Nikki Neely: I think it shows that they put trust in families. You know your children and your children's needs better than a bureaucrat does, better than, you know, some arbitrarily drawn lines in a map might. And that's something that's been really exciting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And so absolutely, the Republicans have been supportive of choice. Now looking at the newly changed Democrat ticket, you know, Vice President Harris has thrown her lot in with the unions. She has the NEA backing, the AFT backing. And we know that those unions adamantly oppose school choice because school choice means a loss of control for them.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And so I think there is it could not be a clear choice between, you know, who actually stands with families and what children need versus who stands with the status quo working against families.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, there's been a lot of buzz around Kamala Harris's new VP pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls. What do we know about his record on schools?
--:-- Nikki Neely: We know a lot about his record on schools, and it is abysmal. Since he took office, student achievement in the state of Minnesota tumbled, while spending on schools skyrocketed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And this is not just me speculating and being a pundit. I mean, we can look at these numbers just in black and white. NAP scores, the nation's report card, has steadily declined since Walsh took office.
--:-- Nikki Neely: The average fourth grade reading score in Minnesota is actually below the national average for the first time On math same thing This has also declined significantly since 2019 Meanwhile there has been you know quote unquote historic education funding increases but that has not changed anything because early estimates actually assume that about half of the new money to go towards schools is actually going to go towards new mandates.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And mandates are, it's things like menstrual products in boys' bathrooms, free meals for all students, regardless of income. And so while there might be more money going into schools. It's not getting into classrooms. It's going towards pet projects.
--:-- Nikki Neely: Governor Walz also kept schools closed for a long time. There has been a massive infusion of critical social justice ideology into K-12 education because the state just recently updated their social studies standards. And they also have an ethnic studies mandate that's not part of state law. Ethnic studies is frankly code for critical race theory.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This is the kind of social studies curriculum that puts students into categories of oppressor, oppressed. California has had problems with this for several years because this is where a lot of the overt anti-Semitism is coming in. It's really, it puts children into ethnic boxes rather than teaching them to get along and appreciate each other's differences.
--:-- Nikki Neely: So I think across the board, Governor Walz's, the way the education system in Minnesota has gone on his watch has been abysmal. And it's frightening for the country that that might be, you know, that might play out nationally.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, just to play devil's advocate, obviously 2019 was right on the cusp of the COVID pandemic. Did Minnesota fare worse than other states or did it have the same dip in achievement that other states had?
--:-- Nikki Neely: Every state across the country had a dip in achievement, but now that schools have been back and they've been open again for the past year to two years, we should have seen rebounds across the board in a lot of these places. And Minnesota is one of the places that we have not.
--:-- Georgia Howe: CNBC actually dropped Minnesota's educational system ranking three spots from last year. It now comes in at 17th. And right before Governor Walz took office, the state's educational ranking came in at fifth.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And so obviously everybody kind of, you know, all the states across the country were impacted by COVID equally. And so for him to even after the fact be so far down is really astonishing because you see states like Mississippi jumping while Minnesota has fallen.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, a slightly different topic from school choice, but related. California recently passed Assembly Bill 1955. That bill basically bars schools from creating parental transparency rules relating to gender transitions happening at school and a few other LGBT issues. But basically, it prevents schools from having parental notifications in place.
--:-- Nikki Neely: Several cities in California are moving to oppose this. These are some of the more conservative school districts. Can you tell us anything about the parents' right to know cities and what's going on with that?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sure. This is an issue that we've been tracking for almost two years at this point. We have a running list on our website, defendinged.org, of districts that maintain what we call parental exclusion policies. These are policies that were passed either by a school district or, in this case of California, by the state that says that you as a parent do not have a right to know your child's gender identity at school.
--:-- Nikki Neely: As of today, we have identified over 1,000 districts across the country that had these policies in the books, impacting over 11.5 million children. And so these are your elected officials actively working against you saying you know what Your child is fully encouraged and entitled to live a double life which is kind of mind when you take a step back because the amount of money that our country is throwing into student mental health interventions what could be worse for a child's mental health than to be told by their math teacher, their guidance counselor, let's lead a double life, and by the way, your mom and your dad probably won't love you if they know what's going on with you.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I mean, it's actually sick and it's wild that that's taking place. And so in California, there have been a number of districts that have, in the face of state law, put down and voted through parental notification policies. Sadly, in California, some of those districts have been sued by the state attorney general, Rob Bonta.
--:-- Nikki Neely: The same thing has also happened in the state of New Jersey. And so I think this is the kind of thing where it is in pretty much all 50 states. This is happening, I mean, astonishingly, even in red states like Idaho, in Texas. We've seen the State School Boards Association pushing these ideas, pushing these policies as modeled policies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And so this is very much a case of the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. We really want parents to know, particularly as we enter a new school year, does your district have a policy like this on the books? And if so, this is the time to speak up and express your concerns because these school board members who voted these things through, you know, they are public servants. They are up for election and they should know how displeased you are that you were voting against their best interest.
--:-- Nikki Neely: Now, I know a few years ago, some of these issues really burst into the public consciousness and there was a movement to get a lot more right-leaning conservative parents on these school boards. Have you tracked that effort at all? And if so, has there been any success?
--:-- Georgia Howe: There has been a lot of effort. I think it's interesting because overall, I think the conservative movement really has not, until COVID, didn't focus a lot on state and local elections, policy issues. You know, so many of us, I mean, I live in Arlington, Virginia, so I'm very much part of the problem. We're really focused on the federal government. But when school closures and COVID happened, we realized that where you live matters. Your local officials matter.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And so we saw since 21, 22, 23, a lot of focus on electing new school board members. Our friends at 1776 Action Pack have done a great job getting new school board members elected. But one thing we have found is that even if you get a new school board member elected, they need to know how to govern. And so it's been really interesting to kind of watch the plane being built as it's being flown.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There have been terrific new programs that have been started by groups like the Leadership Institute to help these new school board members know how to govern. Robert's Rules of Orders, working on committees, things like that.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And then even beyond just getting elected to a school board member, encouraging members of the community to volunteer for maybe your local school library or things like that, where you have a foot in the door, you're keeping an eye on what's going on, and you're able to inform other families in the community about what's happening.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, there are 13,500 school districts across America, and we know many of the terrific conservative school board members in states like California, who even if they want to do the right thing, sometimes their hands are tied by the state legislature. California, as you mentioned, the AB 1955, you know, that ties their hands. That forces them to have to do things that they don't want to do.
--:-- Nikki Neely: And so this is another reason why elections matter every cycle. People have to show up and they have to really vote their interests and their families and their children's best interest.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right. Well, Nikki, thank you so much for coming on today.
--:-- Nikki Neely: Thank you for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Nikki Neely, president and founder of Parents Defending Education. And this has been a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
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