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FIRST ON FOX — Several House Education and Labor Committee Republicans sent a letter to Education and Labor Democrats urging them to hold a hearing on the impact of COVID-19-related school closures on the well-being of children across the country.
Republican Reps. Greg Murphy and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina and Burgess Owens of Utah teamed up to send a letter to House Education and Labor Democrats on Monday highlighting stronger parental involvement in children's schooling after COVID-19 and calling for subcommittee hearings to address the impact of school closures and critical race theory (CRT) teachings in schools.
"Many parents in our districts are attending fall parent-teacher conferences around this time and are deeply worried that their kids are falling behind in school through no fault of their own," members wrote. "The reality is that some students will be forced to repeat a grade, and many will advance to the next grade without being adequately prepared through essential in-person instruction. We must be prepared to discuss the implications of what this will mean for the next generation of students in our country."
Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., in Washington on Tuesday Sept. 17, 2019. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools across the U.S. – for months in most cases and more than a year into 2021 in others – in an effort by local politicians and school boards to slow the spread of COVID-19 while most minors were still unable to get vaccinated.
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Republicans asked Democrats to "promptly address the needs of students as we recover from the pandemic."
The GOP members also requested that Democrats address the issue of CRT in public schools.
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Critics of CRT, which is formally understood as an academic and legal analysis of race recognizing racism as a systemic problem affecting certain areas of society, argue that the movement is divisive in classrooms and separates children into groups of oppressors versus oppressed, privileged and underprivileged.
Children studying in a classroom while wearing masks. (iStock)
Proponents of CRT training in higher education and in professional settings say it helps enhance dominant groups' understanding and empathy of what the oppressed experience on a regular basis. Many defenders have denied that CRT is being taught in K-12 classrooms.
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Parents across the country have been speaking out against CRT in private and public schools or school districts and working to garner support from others who take issue with the movement.
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A recent Fox News Voter Analysis, which polled more than 2,500 Virginia voters, found that 25% of them viewed the CRT debate as the single most important factor they considered when deciding who to support for governor, while 75% said it was an "important" factor in their votes.
People wait in line on the last day of early voting in the Virginia gubernatorial election in Fairfax, Virginia, on Oct. 30, 2021. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)
"We request that you hold a hearing at the earliest possible opportunity to address parental concerns regarding school curricula, including parental concerns regarding racism in the classroom, as well as sex and gender education in elementary and secondary schools," members wrote. "Additionally, we request that you hold a hearing on the increasingly hostile culture of college campuses to address the concerns of students facing harassment and punishment for expressing their First Amendment right to the freedom of speech, expression and thoughts."
Additionally, the letter highlighted issues in both the K-12 public education system as well as in institutions of higher education, noting that the "pandemic further exposed weaknesses of the traditional postsecondary model," including "soaring college costs for degrees that often leave students ill-prepared for the workforce and financially vulnerable."
Chair of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, D-Northern Mariana Islands, did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
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President Biden's $1.75 trillion social and climate spending agenda, the Build Back Better Act, notably excluded tuition-free community college or the cancellation of student debt, which progressives have been pushing since he took office, but it does include a plan for universal preschool.
Meanwhile, schools across the country are grappling with teacher and other staffing shortages after nearly two years of the pandemic. Schools in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington, Maryland and Colorado have all canceled classes in recent days because of staffing shortages.
Fox News' Emma Colton and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
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