On Thursday, Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne vowed to stand with any parent who is contacted by President Joe Biden’s FBI after speaking out against teachers and school administrators on behalf of their children.
“Watch this clip of my interview with Rick Roberts. I want to make sure if the FBI contacts any parent in our district because they are speaking out on behalf of their child, contact my office and I will be there with them to meet the FBI,” Rep. Van Duyne tweeted.
During an interview with Rick Roberts, Rep. Van Duyne was asked how “parents protesting a curriculum or a library book” are equated with “domestic terrorism” and why Biden’s Department of Justice is being involved in parent-school disputes in the first place.
“Well, those are all great questions and they’re all very good points. And the fact is that it’s not, but what we have seen from the left is they just extend the definition of words that they don’t like until they have no meaning. I mean, think about it. What racism used to be is completely different now than the connotation they use it, so often in such a wide variety of contexts, it no longer has the same meaning,” Van Duyne said. “And when you are comparing parents, who are taking the leadership and are being parents because they actually care about the education, the exposure, the influence that it’s having on their kids — that’s what we should be pushing for.”
Van Duyne argued that the most successful schools in America have strong partnerships between teachers and parents and have parents who make sure kids are doing their homework in support of the teachers.
“What you’re seeing in the last few months, the last few years, is the school boards trying to kick parents out of their kids’ life, out of their kids’ education and out of their kids’ schools. It’s the exact opposite that we should be looking for,” Van Duyne said. “And you know all of our children deserve a high quality education and we’re criminalizing parents and guardians now who are advocating on their behalf. And parents have an absolute right to be engaged in their children’s education and I just don’t think that they need to be silenced.”
“They can’t be silenced by these kinds of strong arm tactics, but because we’re in the district, I want to make sure that I’m putting out there right now: that if the FBI contacts any parent that I represent, because that mom or dad is speaking out on behalf of their child, I want them to contact my office immediately because I will be there with that parent to meet the FBI,” the Texas rep added.
Van Duyne’s comments refer to Mr. Biden’s decision to have his Department of Justice direct the FBI to help combat “efforts to intimidate” and “threats” aimed at school officials and teachers. The move came less than one week after a group representing 90,000 school-board members asked Biden for FBI, Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security protection from “threats of violence” and “acts of intimidation.”
