Bruce Lear: Democratic candidates need to sharpen their messages around education going into the 2022 elections.

During the recent governor’s election in Virginia, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe told the truth, but it sounded like hell to parents. McAuliffe said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” He was so right, but his Republican opponent made it sound so wrong. It wasn’t the only reason he lost, but it was a big factor.

In a world of one-minute answers, his political opponent Glenn Youngkin was able to pounced on the comment and twist it to say, “McAuliffe believes parents should have no say in their child’s education.” McAuliffe was left trying to explain, “I didn’t mean that.” It was too little, too late.

Why should anyone but political junkies care about an election in Virginia? Because making public education into a wedge issue is now part of the GOP playbook for the next election. In some races, Republicans will flirt enough with Donald Trump to court his base, but won’t go full Trump. In other deep red races, they’ll fully embrace their hero. 

But no matter what race, GOP candidates will try to use public education as a hammer to stun their opponent. So one thing’s for sure: Democrats need to sharpen their messages around education, or they’ll face a red tide that will drown them. 

Above all else, they need to stop counting on voters to see that Republicans are twisting the truth when they offer simple solutions to complex problems. Voters didn’t see through it in Virginia this week, and they won’t elsewhere in 2022.

To put it bluntly, Democratic candidates need to stop bringing a white paper to a knife fight. Not having a sharp, simple, message will leave any candidate metaphorically bleeding.

Democrats need to steal a page from that GOP playbook and employ the “KISS” principle: Keep it simple, stupid.

It’s not enough for Democratic candidates to talk about supporting public schools through better funding, smaller class sizes, and strong recruitment and retention of teachers. They need to clearly show how they will do those things to ever hope of regaining the majority in the Iowa House or Senate.

Through their words and votes, progressive candidates have long owned the public education issue, but Republicans have made inroads lately, in spite of the GOP turning its back on public education time after time.

Recently, Republicans have crafted a message around critical race theory, a theory developed in the 1970s sometimes discussed in MA or Phd history seminars and in law schools. It’s rarely taught even there, but Republican spin masters have decided to make voters believe this obscure graduate-level theory is taught in every third grade in America. It’s a lie, but it’s working. 

The definition of critical race theory is pretty nebulous, but basically, it’s the study of American institutions through the lens of racial equity.    

Those who are trying to ban critical race theory never define it. Instead, it’s used as a catch-all-phrase to encompass anything that makes Republican parents uncomfortable. The Iowa legislature couldn’t define it either. First they called it “divisive concepts,” and later settled for “specific defined concepts” in a law that never mentioned critical race theory by name.

Republicans understand they can’t say we are against anything that makes us uncomfortable. Instead, they accuse teachers of dividing students by race and indoctrinating them by saying America is a racist country.   

Teachers don’t brainwash students. If they did, they would use it to get them to come to school and do their homework. The accusation is absurd. But since most parents don’t have a clue what really goes on in the classroom, they believe the yelling candidate and the megaphone of right-wing media.

How can Democratic candidates counter this message? First, it’s time for Democrats and educators to form a strong alliance. Candidates would do well to have teachers recruited to tell the real story of how they teach students to critically think, not what to think. I am well aware not all educators are Democrats, but candidates can find some teachers who want to tell an accurate story.

Second, Democratic candidates need to denounce anyone who singles students out by race. It’s important to take the lie out of the campaign up front. That allows the candidate to talk about why students need to study our history honestly and understand the facts. History can’t be changed, but even the ugly parts need to be understood so they are not repeated. That’s the value of a good public education. I believe most parents will agree with this clear, simple message.

Third, Democrats should point out that parents are partners in education in a number of significant ways. They can elect school board members who share their beliefs. They can speak at school board meetings. They can have collaborative meetings with teachers almost any time. If they are parents of special education students, they have a natural partnership with the school through helping write their child’s Individual Education Plan.

No, parents should not control the curriculum of the public school. I’ve had knee surgery and an appendectomy. But that doesn’t make me a qualified surgeon. The same is true with teaching. Just because someone attended sixth grade doesn’t mean they are qualified to teach it.  

If individual parents are allowed to determine what books kids are able to read in the public school library based on personal beliefs or if individual parents can dictate the curriculum, we are cheating our children and our community.

Democrats can win in 2022, but we need to stop smirking at the Republican slogans and accept that campaigns are won and lost around a simple, well-timed message that appeals to not just liberal Democrats but also to moderate independents. Public education should not be a political football, but it is. If we want to win, we need to intercept some passes for quick points.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and retired after 38 years of being connected to public schools. He was a teacher for eleven years and a regional director for the Iowa State Education Association for 27 years until retirement.