Grassley: Change in Education Begins at the Local School Level

Prepared Floor Remarks by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Change in Education Begins at the Local School Level

Monday, June 13, 2022

 

There has been lots of well-deserved attention to free expression limits on college campuses.

 

I’ve spoken about the need for free expression many times right here on the Senate floor.

 

But, one reason we have this issue at colleges is because students aren’t exposed to diverse ideas in younger grades.

 

So when college students encounter opposing ideas for the first time, they lash out or demand “safe spaces.”

 

That tells me that students are coming to college unprepared to hear diverse views.

 

If your own views have never been challenged, then you almost certainly have not developed the skills to evaluate different viewpoints and make up your own mind.

 

So, why are students arriving in college so resistant to hearing diverse viewpoints?

 

Based a news story from last month, this may not be entirely accidental.

 

The American Federation of Teachers recently announced that it wants to put an extension on the computers of its 1.7 million members.

 

The goal of this NewsGuard extension is to provide “trust ratings” of news websites.

 

Although numerous studies have pointed to a clear left-wing bias from NewsGuard, the AFT still wanted to bring it into classrooms across America.

 

Our goal should be to get political bias out of K-12 schools, not engrain it.

 

A major focus I’ve heard from Iowa teachers has been a need to develop critical thinking.

 

Well, critical thinking requires listening to different ideas.

 

If all students just agree with their teachers, that’s repetition, not independent thinking.

 

The disease that has infected so many colleges seems to have spread in our K-12 schools.

 

I hope for our country’s future, we find a way to continue to show kids all sides of an argument rather than shutting down ideas that teachers may disagree with.

 

I have heard from many Iowans concerned about exactly that kind of bias.

 

But I can’t fix this from Washington.

 

The first rule of education policy should be that decisions are made as close to the family as possible.

 

If you have issues with how your school is being run, your local school board should be your first stop.

 

These elected officials are directly accountable to parents in their own community.

 

A problem should only go up to the State Legislature if it is caused by state law.

 

And, only a select few issues should go to the national level, where federal intervention is the source of the problem.

 

So, if you see political bias or lack of diverse viewpoints in your kids’ school: go to the people who can fix it.