STATEMENT: PDE Action Endorses Rep. Fitzgerald’s STUDENT Act

July 19, 2023

PDE Action is proud to support Representative Scott Fitzgerald’s Stopping Teachers Unions from Damaging Educational Needs Today (STUDENT) Act—a bill to bring crucial reforms to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union. 

The National Education Association’s priorities are out of touch with the American public. At its annual meeting earlier this month, the union voted to support programs that increase minor’s access to sex change procedures. The NEA’s hyper fixation on gender politics is particularly irresponsible as American students continue to face pandemic-related declines in test scores; further, the medical efficacy of such treatments remains unproven. 

For far too long, the NEA—established by federal charter—has been delinquent in its duties “to promote the cause of education in the United States.” Rather, its top brass has decided to promote political narratives on race, sex, and gender in K-12 schools. The STUDENT Act will curb the NEA’s engagement in lobbying or other political activity, thereby forcing leadership to focus on improving the American education system instead of prioritizing their own political ambitions. 

Representative Fitzgerald has for years sought to hold the NEA accountable for the havoc it has caused to American students. While education is by and large a state and local issue, it’s exciting to see Representative Fitzgerald use innovative strategies to curtail the politicization of American classrooms within the bounds set by our Constitution. PDE Action is proud to stand with Representative Fitzgerald and the STUDENT Act. 

Download our press release here.