[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4061-H4064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SUPPORTING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from Vermont (Ms. Balint) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the public 
schools. I am a parent. I am a former middle school teacher. I am also 
the child of a working-class mom and an immigrant dad. I understand so 
deeply that education is the bedrock of this great democracy.
  Nevertheless, Mr. Speaker, I am worried about our public schools. I 
am worried about the news stories about banning books and erasing Black 
curriculum from schools. These Republican actions are not supportive of 
our public schools or teachers or parents or our students. This assault 
on public education does not make us a stronger nation, a kinder 
nation, or a more thoughtful one.
  We don't have any fear about facing the complexity of our Nation's 
history. Our democracy is stronger than that. It can withstand the ugly 
details, the inconvenient truths, and the uncomfortable nuance. We have 
a robust democracy, and we have a republic that can face tough 
questions about its history.
  We need not be afraid of this. Age-appropriate curriculum about our 
Nation's history must include the hard parts. Our students, our 
parents, and our teachers can handle it. Let's trust them.
  It is concerning to me that in some districts we have movements to 
prevent students from learning about slavery or the Trail of Tears or 
Martin Luther King, Jr., or Rosa Parks or Anne Frank.
  As the grandchild of an immigrant, a man who was killed in the 
Holocaust--a grandchild of someone killed in the Holocaust, I know the 
importance of knowing history. I know the importance of speaking 
frankly and clearly about what happens when we don't know the details 
and when we simply demonize a group or dehumanize a group of people.
  What we need to do is shine the light of day on complex history. When 
we use our time here in Congress to fan the flames of culture wars 
instead of investing in our schools, then we are not doing the job that 
we were sent here to do and that parents want us to do.
  It doesn't matter what your political stripe is, Mr. Speaker, or 
whether you are not involved in politics at all. Mr. Speaker, what you 
want for your children and grandchildren is essentially the same. You 
want a strong education for your kids and grandkids. You want schools 
where all students feel safe and supported and can be the very best 
selves.
  We know that kids suffer when they don't have the resources that they

[[Page H4062]]

need. We should be investing our time and energy into making sure all 
of our schools regardless of ZIP Code have the resources they need for 
every single American kid to be successful. That is our job.

                              {time}  1600

  Balance is at the core of who we are as Americans. It is not banning 
Judy Blume or trying to pretend that racism wasn't part of our past 
and, indeed, in many instances, isn't still a part of our present. We 
should not be afraid of these details.
  To ensure that the next generation of Americans is equipped for 
adulthood, we have to support well-rounded, holistic education that 
sets up our children for success.
  I have a 13-year-old--almost 13; she will be 13 in a couple of 
weeks--and a 15-year-old. I will tell you that every time we sit down 
to dinner at my house, we have robust conversations about the news.
  In fact, when I first started in Congress, I used to walk through the 
door on Friday afternoons and my son would say, ``Mom, let's talk about 
your votes.''
  We have complex conversations about geopolitics. I don't shy away 
from talking about the hard stuff with my son or my daughter. I trust 
them to ask questions of me that are age-appropriate.
  I wish that we would trust our families across this country to be 
able to have rich and complex conversations with their students about 
curriculum that is often complicated.
  That is the human experience. That is the American experience. It is 
not tidy, nor would we want it so. We are a nation of ideas. We wrestle 
with concepts. This is who we are at our best. We should not be afraid 
of this happening in our public schools.
  I know the impact that quality education can have on our young people 
and the danger that lies ahead if we use our positions as elected 
officials to be proscriptive about what should be discussed in our 
public schools.
  The continued attack on our public education, which is often fueled 
by divisive rhetoric and often, unfortunately, manufactured 
controversies, is an affront to parents and students everywhere. As I 
said, they know how to navigate complex issues. Why are we so afraid of 
this?
  Our continued dependency within this building on creating groups of 
people to demonize and dehumanize for political ends then, 
unfortunately, gets played out in public schools across this country. 
How is this possibly helping our democracy?
  I want students who ask hard questions. When I was a teacher, I 
welcomed them. I welcomed people from across the political spectrum and 
their parents to be able to come into my classroom and have deep 
conversations about difference.
  It is not about indoctrinating people. It is about having a place 
where we are not afraid to talk about hard things. Isn't that what we 
want for our schools and for our communities?
  I fear that we are so afraid of having hard conversations that we 
have stopped talking at all. Better to shut down any conversation about 
something that somebody perceives as controversial than to try to come 
together with differing opinions, wrestle with ideas, wrestle with 
complexities.
  This is who we are at our best. This is actually what this body was 
supposed to be and what our public schools can be at their best: a 
microcosm of the democracy.
  As a public schoolteacher, I taught middle school. People often say 
middle school is great preparation for being in Congress for a whole 
lot of reasons, that public schoolteachers and the parents that support 
those teachers and those students are some of the most committed, 
compassionate members of our communities.
  They are invested in their students. They are committed to their 
communities. Unfortunately, they have become targets of baseless 
attacks that have come from divisive politics.
  I have to say, the attack on public schools, the attack on teachers, 
is not serving us as a nation. It is not, as I said, making us 
stronger. It is not making us more thoughtful. It is not making us more 
equipped to deal with the complicated world of geopolitics that we must 
confront.
  I welcome hard conversations, and I always have in my classroom. This 
is what teachers across this country are trying to do, to hold space 
for hard conversations. Why are we so afraid of that?
  I also have to say, as a woman who has two kids, and my spouse is 
another woman, I want my kids to be able to go to a school where their 
teacher is not going to be reprimanded for acknowledging that my kids 
have a particular kind of family. I want my kids to feel like they have 
as much of a right to be in a classroom to get an education as anyone 
else. Why are we so afraid of difference?
  For many years in this country, difference, diversity of experience, 
diversity of background--we talked about our Nation as a great melting 
pot.
  Sometimes it was called a fruit salad. Sometimes it was called a 
potpourri of experiences. It used to be that we celebrated that, that 
we did not see that as a danger to our very democracy.
  We are in what I feel like is not just uncharted territory. It is 
dangerous territory for the Republic.
  I know from representing Vermont, which is a rural State with 
hundreds of communities dotted across our wooded landscape, that the 
public schools are the heart and soul of our communities. They are 
where young minds are nurtured, where curiosity is fueled, where 
community itself is fostered.
  Our teachers, in conjunction with the parents in those communities, 
play an invaluable role in shaping our children's futures. They deserve 
to be acknowledged for the work that they do, not vilified.
  One of the things that I heard as I was campaigning across Vermont to 
represent my State in Congress--didn't matter what community I was in--
people would come up to me at the end of events and say: I don't want 
to hate my neighbors. I don't want to feel like the only way forward is 
to be fearful of other Americans, people within my own community.
  I try to live my life here in Congress and as a former teacher as 
someone who is always thinking about how we bring the community of man 
back together. How do we move away from a meanness of spirit that is 
not just corroding our work here but is actually corroding our Nation?

  Schools are an important part of people being able to come together 
and speak honestly about their experiences and histories. It is a way 
forward for us as a nation. Why are we so afraid of having difficult 
conversations?
  Now, I never imagined that, as the child of an immigrant and a 
working-class mom, I would be standing here before you. As a gay woman, 
I never thought that I would be walking in these Halls, but I am here. 
I have a place here, and I am going to use my voice to continue to ask 
questions.
  What happened to our ability to have tough conversations without 
demonizing each other, without dehumanizing each other?
  We know what happens when norms are upended, when rights are 
attacked. We have seen this across the globe. We have seen it here in 
our own country.
  Public schools are an important part of building back the strength 
and vibrancy of our democracy.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from Vermont for 
her incredible courage.
  I know I come from and grew up in the most beautiful, Blackest city 
in the country, the city of Detroit, where every corner is a reminder 
of the civil rights movement, a reminder of different movements that 
ensured that our Black neighbors had human dignity.
  Across the country, far-right extremists, elected officials like the 
Governor of Florida, are attempting to whitewash Black history and ban 
books in our children's classrooms.
  Florida's own Board of Education just approved new Black history 
standards, and public school students will be now taught that enslaved 
Black folks benefited from slavery.
  The audacity. There are no two sides, Mr. Speaker, to slavery. 
Slavery was cruel, was inhumane. It was a violent practice that denied 
our Black neighbors and communities their basic human dignity. It had 
no redeeming qualities.
  Many of the Founding Fathers in this Chamber even owned human beings

[[Page H4063]]

themselves. These are just facts. This is our history.
  You cannot teach the truth about American history without teaching 
African-American history.
  We must teach our children, Mr. Speaker, the truth about our Nation's 
history. That means reckoning with racism, oppression, lynching, 
dehumanization, and white supremacist violence.
  We cannot learn from our past if our past is no longer being taught.
  We will not allow anyone to rewrite our history. Again, it is so 
important that this Chamber understands that Black history is American 
history.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from Vermont, Representative 
Balint, for really, truly championing this issue today.
  Again, being from a community that taught me that oppression against 
anyone needs to continue to be fought against, I can't stand idly by, 
even if it is another State doing it, and say that it is okay. I can't 
stand on the sidelines. We must continue to speak truth.
  Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, parents and voters across this country 
understand the biggest challenges facing America's students in our 
public schools, and it is not about curriculum that includes details 
about slavery or the Trail of Tears or Anne Frank. That is not what 
most voters and parents care about.
  What do they care about?
  Number one, they care about getting students the support they need, 
and in some instances, that is one-on-one support to meet the needs of 
their students.
  They care deeply about addressing the educator shortages that we see 
across the country.
  They care deeply about ensuring that their students have the mental 
health services that they need.
  They care deeply about the dangers of gun violence in their schools.
  They want candidates to address these issues. They want leaders who 
will address these issues.
  I will say the needs of parents are really not that different from 
the needs and desires of students. I have spent quite a bit of time 
traveling across Vermont, speaking to predominantly middle school and 
high school students about what it is that they are concerned about. 
They talk about the same kinds of things.
  They talk about needing mental health support. They talk about how 
afraid they are to go to school because they are worried about the 
epidemic of gun violence. They are concerned that they won't be 
prepared for the future.

                              {time}  1615

  They are not clamoring to have curriculum restricted. They want to 
have those hard conversations. I taught middle school for many years. I 
run into some of my former students who are now adults, and we talk 
about the conversations that we had in my classroom that were on hard 
issues, but they were age appropriate. I trusted them and their 
families to be engaged in the work that was happening in my classroom.
  I fear that where we are headed is a future in which what it is that 
teachers are allowed to discuss with students will be so restricted 
that our students will not be prepared for the future outside of their 
little communities.
  History is complicated. It is often ugly, sometimes really 
distasteful. I studied African-American history and Native-American 
history when I was earning my master's in history. I studied African-
American communities post-Reconstruction, during an era known as racial 
uplift. I looked at Black women's community organizations and the work 
that they did post-Reconstruction to have vital supports within their 
communities. I studied Native-American land claims and the missteps and 
mistakes and atrocities that happened in history regarding Tribal 
claims to land.
  I am a better person for knowing these things. It did not 
fundamentally make me a less patriotic American. It did not make me 
less grateful that my father came here as an immigrant to build a new 
life.
  Every nation has its complex histories, its difficult chapters, its 
reckonings. No nation is without dark spots in its past.
  Where we can rise above as a nation is to say, we will embrace head-
on the complexity and the nuance and trust that our students, parents, 
and teachers can have those conversations, and it will not make them 
less likely to love their country.
  Having taught middle school for a very long time, and community 
college, I will tell you that students feel betrayed when they are not 
given age-appropriate curriculum about the hard stuff, and then they 
find out about it later, and they feel like we have been withholding 
history from them, that we don't trust them enough to ask the good 
questions.
  I wish so sincerely that we would trust parents more across this 
country to be able to have a relationship with their local public 
school and their teachers and together have those meaningful, sometimes 
difficult conversations.
  One of the things that I am also quite concerned about is that we are 
not investing even in the infrastructure of schools. I am concerned 
that there are so many aging buildings across this country that in a 
decade or two they are not going to be structurally sound for our 
students. It is going to take a big investment of money to make sure 
that every single student has a safe building to learn inside. However, 
our priorities often in this building are not around investing in the 
needs of our children and our families.
  I know that bill is going to come due, and there is going to be a 
time when parents and communities say: Why didn't we make those 
investments when we should have? Is it not true that our children are 
truly the most precious resource for the Nation?
  Now, the other thing that I have been thinking about is that we, as 
parents, need to be willing to show up for our schools and our students 
even when there is no controversy. Take an interest in what is 
happening, not because you have any kind of agenda but just because you 
want to know what is happening in the schools.
  I can tell you that most of the schools that I know of in Vermont 
would welcome involvement from the community, whether it is a community 
garden or helping to lead after-school programs. What the most 
frustrating thing is when people are not involved in the work of the 
school or what is happening there, and there is a sense of suspicion 
about what is happening there. I can tell you, as somebody who 
volunteered as much as I could at my kids' school when they were 
little, I knew what was happening in their schools because I was there 
communicating.
  Public schools are not the enemy here. Teachers are not the enemy, 
nor are trans people and queer people that seem to be on the receiving 
end right now of a lot of the vitriol around public schools.
  I went into teaching for one reason--alleviating suffering. That is 
the same reason why I ran for State senate, and it is the same reason 
why I ran for Congress, alleviating suffering in all of its forms. When 
you are a teacher, you have to do that in real time because kids come 
into the classroom with whatever they were dealing with that morning at 
home, and it is the job of the teacher to hold all students where they 
are and make the classroom environment a place where all feel safe and 
supported.
  It is not an easy job; I can tell you. Oftentimes when you are a 
teacher, you get to the end of the day and you haven't remembered to 
eat or use the bathroom or take care of any of your personal needs 
because there is only one thing that is important to you, which is 
making sure your students get what they need when they are with you 
that day.
  Can we please stop demonizing teachers? Can we please stop thinking 
there is some sinister agenda?
  People serve in that capacity because they want to make a positive 
difference in the lives of children, and sometimes it is as simple as 
sitting with a student who had a rough time on the bus in the morning 
or someone who is carrying with them a deep insecurity about themselves 
and that is getting in the way of their learning.
  We talk in education about differentiated learning, and we use that 
to talk about how students come in with different levels of success at 
a particular topic, particular curriculum, and you try to 
differentiate, make it possible for them to be successful.

[[Page H4064]]

  I have often thought when we talk about differentiated learning, we 
forget that that is what teachers do day in and day out with every 
single student they have. What does this student need right now? How 
can I help them get what they need so they can be successful? It is 
both exhausting and rewarding.

  Can we please stop attacking teachers?
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Tokuda).
  Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, I am definitely out of breath. I ran here 
from my other hearing because this was just such an important hour that 
we participate in.
  Patsy Takemoto Mink is the mother of Title IX. She had a vision and a 
dream for her daughter and for all of our children, to live a life free 
from the kind of discrimination she suffered as a woman of color.
  Her groundbreaking advocacy and reforms have since paved the way to 
allow all of our children to fully participate and engage in their 
education, in sports, and in all other forms of learning as their true, 
authentic selves.
  Removing discrimination and inequity on the basis of sex was personal 
for Congresswoman Mink. Throughout her pursuit of higher education, she 
faced racial discrimination, segregation, and limited opportunities 
simply because she was a woman.
  Many of us serving here in Congress on both sides of the aisle are 
here because of Patsy's perseverance and courage, and I am humbled to 
serve in the seat that she held with such grit and such grace. Like 
Patsy, I see every action or inaction we take here in Congress through 
the lens of a mother.
  While we cowardly delay action on gun legislation, I leave home each 
week terrified that one day an active shooter drill at my sons' school 
might not be a drill at all.
  As we fight book bans and the perverse culture wars of the far right, 
I wonder how my boys will feel when they see less and less of 
themselves in what is represented as history, and in the books that are 
on the library shelves.
  While we watch as bullies in Congress try to push our loved ones back 
into the closet through guilt and shame, I hug my babies, now 
teenagers, every single chance I get, and I remind them, as I have 
since they were little, of my unconditional love for them and my only 
wish for them to be whomever they seek to be.
  As we fight in this Chamber, kicking and screaming against what is 
nothing less than a movement to use our children as a means to 
institutionalize racism, legitimize discrimination, and oppress 
marginalized people and communities of color around our country, I 
often sit and ask myself: What would Patsy say? What would Patsy do?
  I cannot speak for this great tower of a woman, but I know in my 
heart that she would not stand for this kind of politicization of our 
children. She would stand shoulder to shoulder with all of us and say: 
Hell, no, not today. Not today.
  Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, we have important work to do in this 
country. We need to continue to invest in schools so that we can reduce 
poverty. We need to alleviate hunger. We need to work together to build 
better outcomes for kids. We need to give teachers a living wage and 
create equitable systems that don't leave anyone behind. Your ZIP Code 
should not determine whether you get a robust, rich education or not.

                              {time}  1630

  Students, parents, educators deserve more. They need partners, not 
partisans. They don't need bullies. What they need is for us to stand 
up for robust, rich education and not be afraid to talk about the tough 
stuff.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________