Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), a candidate for election to the U.S. House to represent Alaska’s At-Large Congressional District, said in an interview published Tuesday on Breitbart News editor Adrienne Ross’s eponymous podcast that political corruption of “public schools” can become a catalyst across America by invigorating “Mama and Papa Grizzlies” to protect children.
Palin assessed the landscape of education as one in which conservatives can win political battles.
“Now, you see Mama Grizzlies all over the country, and Papa Grizzlies, standing up and saying, ‘No, you’re not going to go there with my kid.’ That can be a catalyst for real positive change in this country because no, you don’t poke that bear. You don’t mess with kids.”
Flashback:
Palin said the importance of quality schools became more apparent during shutdowns of schools decreed by local and state governments and marketed as “public health” measures to reduce coronavirus transmission.
Relevant portion begins at 28:37:
“It’s more serious than ever after the school shutdowns,” she remarked, “and we’re already seeing now ramifications of kids not having a structure for two years in their very formative years when it comes to their education.”
Palin continued, “Personally, it’s so important to me. I’m here at my dad’s house, a school teacher forever and ever. I’m from a house full of schoolteachers. So I have grown up in that environment of the public school system. I’m a product of public schools. My children are also.”
“Public schools [are] near and dear to my heart because of my parents [and] how important it was to them,” she added. “That was just ingrained in us.”
Quality education is compromised by politically corrupt teachers’ unions, Palin held. She said the leadership of teachers’ unions “has a political agenda” undermining the abilities of “good teachers that just want to do their job.”
Palin cautioned conservatives against surrendering the issue of government-run education to the left.
“I see a lot of waste of money, and I want things better for our kids because the public school system isn’t going away,” she remarked. “I do hear, unfortunately, too many conservatives say, ‘Get your kid out of public school.’ That’s not always an option.”
She went on, “Up here in Alaska, we do have a good and strong public school system. Personally, my youngest, he has Down syndrome, so he is in a special needs program. Oh, my gosh, it’s so good for him. There’s no [other] option. There’s not a private school that would be able to provide for Trig, and that’s just one example, but it’s not going away.”
Palin said, “Parents are intimidated … because of agendas that ultimately are out there to make parents sit down and shut up and not have a say in their child’s upbringing. That’s got to stop.”
She emphasized the need for market forces and competition — such as those in a “school choice” environment — to cultivate excellence in education. She noted that the provision of education services is subject to the laws of economics.
“Competition makes everybody work harder, produce more and better, and be more efficient,” she observed. “That applies to education also, and your tax dollars should not only go to this mandated public school curriculum.”
Palin said legislation is needed to decentralize government-funded education within the context of a “school choice” system.
She concluded, “We have to politically make sure that people are elected who get it and can make those changes for school choice. Competition will make the public school system work better.”