Exclusive — Tim Scott on His ‘Empower Parents Plan’: ‘Education Is the Closest Thing to Magic’

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, told Breitbart News exclusively that when he introduced his “Empower Parents Plan” late last month he was continuing his years-long push for Republicans to take the lead on education away from Democrats beholden to teachers’ unions.

“I do,” Scott said when asked if he thinks education is an electoral winner for Republicans over Democrats.

“I will say I founded the School Choice Caucus eight years ago and I knew then what I know now, which is that education is the closest thing to magic, and the more America and Americans realize the power of education — and the lack of education in too many of our public schools — the more incensed they would become and the more focused they would be,” Scott said.

Sherine Robinson, Eliza Whitehurst and daughter Yael Cooper, 11, all of Washington, D.C. and representing D.C. Parents for School Choice (Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)

“If we are the party of parents, we have a bright future. Frankly, this is one of those issues that cuts across racial lines. You see over 60 percent of African Americans, over 60 percent of Hispanics, well over 70 percent of the majority of the population, 70 or 75 percent of working- to two-income families, all want some form of school choice. If we are the party of parents, if we are the champion of the cause they say they want more of, I believe the elections will take care of themselves. But more importantly the future of our nation gets brighter when our kids have been effectively educated, especially in the areas where we see our priorities.”

Scott’s multi-point plan focuses heavily on breaking the teachers’ unions’ “monopoly” on public education. Scott said much of his plan, which would, among other things, provide school choice nationwide, “really is” common sense—and when asked why Democrats do not support these policies he said it is because the teachers’ unions’ have “control over” them.

“I think it is, figuratively speaking, because they have sold their souls to the teachers’ unions,” Scott said of Democrat opposition to school choice. “They have a lot of control over—a monopoly on—public education. Randi Weingarten is a public official who’s beholden to the teachers’ unions and she seems to do the dirty work of the teachers’ unions which of course costs our kids their futures in so many ways. You can’t have only 34 percent of fourth graders at level in reading and think that you’re doing the right thing for this nation. You can’t have under 15 percent of our kids being able to be at grade level in history and civics and think we’re going to have a bright future as a nation.

Randi Weingarten (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“What we’ve seen under Biden is a nation in retreat. That can’t be better seen than in the issue of education. The good news is new leadership turns that around. I’m looking forward to being the president that restores hope and confidence in our public education system by introducing choice—choice by itself breaks the backs of teachers’ unions. We see that with charter schools where principals have the right to hire and fire teachers and in different districts where charter schools can hire and fire principals faster. That means the turnover leads to better and better schools.”

Scott’s plan has multiple different sections, with the first one being a focus on “family first culture.” It calls to “save Title IX and women’s sports” by making clear that “if God made you a man, you play sports against other men.” It also backs crisis pregnancy centers. Under the second part, which calls for “empowered parents” in education policy, it pushes for, among other things, to “defend every parent’s right to know what their child is hearing and reading in school” and to “empower every family the right to opt out of propaganda that attacks their values and religious liberty.” It also calls for nationwide school choice, meant to “break the back of the teachers’ unions” and “so parents can decide whether it’s public school, private school, charter school, STEM school, or homeschool that is best for their child.” It also calls for ending “equity” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) instruction.

Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books on Dec. 16, 2021, that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer, File/AP)

Scott told Breitbart News that the learning loss American children suffered during the coronavirus pandemic is real, and he aims to correct that with his plan.

“My parents’ plan comes down to a parents’ bill of rights that makes sure we get back to educating our kids, not allowing them to be indoctrinated,” Scott said. “It does focus, frankly, on the precipitous drop in our test scores by introducing school choice so parents have a better choice and kids have a better chance. It signals a really healthy thing for our nation, as you know and I know too, that how we educate our future leaders, today’s kids, and how they learn history will be really important. It’s unfortunate that only about 14 percent of kids in America today are at grade level in history and only about 34 percent read at grade level by the fourth grade so we have a lot of work to do in terms of getting parents back in charge and introducing choice. Choice to me is like adding a system of competition, not a monopoly. Competition makes price go down, but quality come up—that’s wonderful news for our kids who have seen the most precipitous drop in test scores because of COVID in the history of the country. So again this gets back in the classroom and gives parents as many alternatives as possible. It’s also going to be helpful from a big tech and social media standpoint—it is robbing our kids of their attention spans and it is leading to a mental health crisis we’re seeing in the country. Frankly, China is stealing their privacy and allowing predators, too often, to steal their future.”

Asked about that learning loss during the COVID lockdowns, Scott said his case for school choice is borne out by the results of test scores of students who were actually in the classroom during the height of the pandemic.

“There is a great comparison that already exists,” Scott said. “Those kids going to the vast majority of public schools around the country were locked out of their classrooms. Kids going to parochial and private schools around the country were still in their classrooms. The test scores for those kids still in their classrooms went up and the spread of the virus did not. The kids that were locked out of their classrooms, their test scores went down and the virus spread just as fast or faster. We know the safest place for kids during COVID was in the classroom, and I believe the safest place for them in the future will be in the classroom as well. Putting more emphasis on the classroom will be helpful as well.

“Also, helping them spend less time on their devices by giving their parents the right and the necessity of consenting to their kids being on social media platforms before the age of 13 is I think absolutely essential and important as well.”

Another major part of Scott’s plan is a focus on big tech and social media companies. He would require “country-of-origin labeling” on every app, and would seek to cut down access of Chinese Communist Party-made apps like TikTok to American children’s data and information. Scott said he does not believe a federal TikTok ban would hold up in court, but said he was looking for other ways to cut off TikTok from America’s children.

“One of the things I’ve said about TikTok is if I could ban it I would, but the bottom line is that the courts have already struck that down twice—the banning of TikTok has been ruled unconstitutional,” Scott told Breitbart News. “President Trump did his best to do so but was unsuccessful. So the question is what do we do next. What we do next is segregate the Chinese Communist Party from having any access to our kids’ information. It’s one of the reasons why I developed the Know Your App Act earlier this year several months ago. It’s to make sure the country of origin is labeled on all of the apps—I think three out of five or four out of five of the top apps on our phones and our devices have a Chinese origin.

“I think parents have a right to know that and they may want to carve their kids out. We’ve also seen, on the federal level—which we’ve seen in a number of states as well—is we’ve banned TikTok from federal devices. I am looking for more ways to segregate or separate the Chinese Communist Party from our kids’ information and the Know Your App Act is just another step or leap in that direction.”

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