Race to the Bottom — Required Reading

I wrote a piece titled ‘The Uncomfortable Truth,’ where I take a trip down memory lane to highlight my abysmal experience in one of the best public schools in my home state. I have long argued to anyone who would listen that our education system is flawed and not in any way up to par with our near-peer adversaries.

Thanks in part to COVID, passionately concerned parents, and tenacious reporters like Luke Rosiak, this broken system is finally getting the attention it deserves.

Upon moving to Northern Virginia, I vowed to get involved with my local community and explore the world of politics in the way I always dreamed of but was never able to. The first group I connected with was Moms For Liberty — Loudoun County Chapter. I immediately felt I had found my tribe. These women of varying economic, social, and cultural backgrounds had found a commonality: concern and frustration with their children’s education.

Luke Rosiak from The Daily Wire was the guest speaker at last month’s meeting. He discussed his new book; Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education. He was kind enough to read my piece on the meeting titled ‘Moms Like Us’ and gave me a signed copy of his book before its official release on March 8th.

I immediately stopped reading my current books (as I’m the type that reads more than one at a time) and dedicated my attention to Race to the Bottom.

Luke is detailed in his research, thoughtful in his delivery, and chilling in his uncovering of the dark underbelly that is our education system.

A must-read for ALL Americans, not just parents, Race to the Bottom explores the behind-the-scenes special interest activities that have helped destroy the public education system. Luke expertly describes how bad actors exploited events to push an ideology of racialization, fear, and indoctrination of America’s youth.

This book is your “why” for any homeschool parent who has received endless grief from friends and family lecturing on how far behind academically and socially their children will be because they aren’t attending a ‘regular’ school. It will perfectly illustrate why people should celebrate and support homeschool families and school choice.

For any business owner who has struggled to find quality employees who understand basic math principles and can string a collection of words together to express a complex thought, this book is for you. It will explain why this phenomenon is occurring and terrify you into becoming active in local politics.

We all have a vested interest in the education system, whether we are parents or not. Most families must rely on the public school system to educate their children to be productive members of society. As it stands, the state of our education system is in the hands of zealots who care little for our children, let alone the future of our country. Suppose we hope to have future innovative scientists, engineers, doctors, architects, and the like. In that case, we must stop contributing to the problem by ignoring it.

My husband and I recently discussed how he has some anxiety over some of the recent events in Ukraine and Russia. As an Emergency Management and Security professional, he tends to have a worst-case perspective. He is always prepared to bug out and live a Mad Max-esque lifestyle. All kidding aside, the events happening in Europe are terrifying and sobering. What worries me more is how our children will navigate their world. Knowing they will have to forge relationships, find jobs, and critically think, let alone fight wars with the ill-educated lost COVID generation. What makes matters worse is the hard realization that we are ill-educated, and probably our parents’ generation before that.

This cancer that infected our public education system and higher learning establishments didn’t happen overnight due to COVID. Instead, it has been festering, multiplying, and seeping its way into every facet of education, free thought, and public discourse.

But I will not let this reality define my intellect. I am no victim of anything that I don’t allow myself to be. My husband and I will continue to be lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and defenders of classical education. We will do what our grandparents’ generation and those before did. We will be curious. We will ask questions, read, research, discover, and ask more questions. We will foster this mentality in our children. Not because we want them to think just like us, but because we want them to be wise enough to always aim for higher, seek truth, and be good stewards of our country’s future. We will be involved in our children’s lives, what they learn, and who is allowed into their sphere of influence. Not because we are helicopter parents, but because we understand that when we decided to bring new life into this world, we became responsible for how that new life turned out.

Luke’s work is quintessential to the awakening of all Americans. Public education affects all of us, and we must no longer act as if it doesn’t. I know I’ve been awake for a while, are you?