Earlier today McConnell sent a letter, co-signed by 38 Senate Republicans, to the Biden administration’s Department of Education calling on them to removed the NY Times’ 1619 project from the federal grant programs, arguing it’s “putting ill-informed advocacy ahead of historical accuracy”:
THE HILL – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday headed a letter sent to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona urging him to remove The New York Times’s “1619 project” from federal grant programs.
“We write to express grave concern with the Department’s effort to reorient the bipartisan American History and Civics Education programs, including the Presidential and Congressional Academies for American History and Civics and the National Activities programs, away from their intended purposes toward a politicized and divisive agenda,” the letter states.
The letter continues that during a time where schools have been shuttered due to the pandemic students have suffered “substantial learning losses.” Thus, the letter states, this is a time to “strengthen the teaching of civics and American history in our schools.”
The letter further argued that the the Education Department’s proposed priorities applaud works such as the “1619 Project,” which the letter characterizes as “putting ill-informed advocacy ahead of historical accuracy.”
The letter is signed by McConnell and 38 other Republican senators.
The letter comes after the Department of Education listed the “1619 Project” in the department’s proposed priorities for American History and Civics Education and said they would offer grant programs for schools that used it in the classroom.
On CNN today, Biden’s Education Secretary Cardona claimed that the federal government doesn’t do curriculum planning:
NEW: In response to Sen. Mitch McConnell's letter encouraging the Dept. of Ed to eliminate federal incentives for districts to use the "1619 Project", @SecCardona tells @AnaCabrera, the feds "don't really have a role" in curriculum planning.
Our story: https://t.co/2E3UW0VgFJ pic.twitter.com/4hGjRJsp7D— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) April 30, 2021
But that’s not exactly true. By having special federal grants just for the 1619 project, the government is taking an active role in the spreading of this racist curriculum in school districts around the country.
Our education system already has so much leftist propaganda in it compared to what it was 40 years ago – students hate America now more than ever! And pushing this 1619 project on students will only continue deepening the racial divide.