Friends and neighbors,
As many of you know, one of the major motivating factors driving my public service is protecting and caring for children. Children are the most vulnerable members of society. They rely on our guidance and the guidance of responsible adults to shape their moral compass. Unfortunately, too often they are being exposed to dangerous ideas and indoctrinated into an extreme liberal world view. It’s happening in nearly every institution in society, from the media to our schools.
This week, we passed two bills related to education where this is clear as day:
Early childhood education
When I was on the school board, I served on the ECFE committee. I believe there are good and valuable ECFE programs; I have seen them work. However, parents have serious and legitimate concerns about ideological philosophies potentially being taught in preschool. The Democrats’ early childhood bill not only fails to address these concerns, but opens the door for further worry.
I discussed a few of my concerns on the floor:
- The collection and use of children’s private health data
- Parent choice regarding curriculum, including potential gender identity
- Lowering the temperature around required vaccinations
Finally, the bill claims a mission of solving the achievement gap. I can promise you: it will not.
We have one of the worst achievement gaps in the nation because we have pursued a faulty way of trying to teach children reading called Whole Language, which involves the memorization of words, inventive spelling, and creative writing. These philosophies are a psychological approach to reading that does not work.
If we hope to solve the achievement gap we need to teach intensive systematic phonics. English is a sound-syllable based language. We need to focus on phonetic breakdowns and the rules of phonics. The achievement gap is a problem that will never be solved with early childhood programs unless we change our approach to literacy.
Please watch an exchange I had with the bill’s author about my concerns regarding this bill: https://youtu.be/7Bjmf6KtEXk
K-12 Education bill
When the Democrats passed their K-12 bill there was an unusual focus on racism and white supremacy of our institutions. I simply disagree with that.
Look, this history of this country is not perfect by any means. We have made mistakes. But today, the vast majority of Americans are not racist and the vast majority of our institutions are not racist. However, there are government programs that have had consequences of harming minorities, and those are the programs we should be addressing.
The other important area we need to address is our policies that trap children in failed schools and by failing to give them choice. This is inherently racist, and minorities are disproportionately affected. We need choice. We need competition. This is how we trap children. These are the areas we need to address if we want to solve racism. Not go down the same path of teaching these ideas and philosophies and supporting them and hoping to solve them.
Please watch my floor comments about some of these concerns regarding this bill: https://youtu.be/ipEPK1CGgL8
Contact me
I love hearing your feedback. If you have any questions or comments about the issues we are working on, please contact me anytime. My email is sen.glenn.gruenhagen@senate.mn, or you can call me at 651-296-4131.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook: https://www.fb.com/SenatorGlennGruenhagen.
It is a privilege to serve you. God Bless.