The Daily Signal - State GOP Prohibits Teachers Unions' Money in School-Related Elections

Episode Date: August 14, 2023

Alabama Republicans have told teachers unions to stay out of their school-related elections. The Alabama Republican Party recently voted to ban GOP candidates for the Alabama Board of Education, local school boards, and county school superintendent from accepting donations from teachers unions. John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama GOP, says the change was needed to ensure that parents, and not special-interest groups, have control over their children’s education.   “There's only one purpose that these education unions exist, and that's to lobby for their facet of the education system,” Wahl says. “There's only one reason school boards and superintendents exist, and that is to put forth the policies that regulate the school systems, so it's a direct conflict of interest.”  Wahl joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain what this change means for protecting parental rights in Alabama. Wahl also weighs in on the priorities of Alabama voters and what we can expect at the first GOP presidential debate on Aug. 23.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, August 14th. I'm Virginia Allen. The Republican Party in Alabama has just told teachers unions to stay out of their elections. The Alabama Republican Party recently voted to ban GOP candidates for the Alabama Board of Education, local school boards, and county school superintendents from receiving donations from teachers' unions. Alabama GOP chairman John Wall says that this is a critical step to ensure that that parents instead of teachers' unions are in control of their child's education. John Wall is one of the youngest GOP chairmen in the country. He joins the show today to discuss what this move means for public schools in Alabama,

and also weigh in on the priorities of Alabama voters and what we can expect at the forthcoming GOP presidential debate on August 23rd. Stay tuned for our conversation. But before we get to that, I want to share with you all about another one of the great podcast from right here at the Heritage Foundation. Whether it's high prices at the pump or power grid problems causing outages, energy and environment policy impacts you, your community, and our whole country. And we're breaking down how and why on the power hour, a show on the Heritage Foundation podcast network. Host Jack Spencer brings in top experts to tell you what you need to know from,

gas prices to gas stoves and everything else in between and what decisions our leaders make mean for all of us. You can find Power Hour on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen. And also be sure to check out all of the Heritage Foundation podcast at heritage.org slash podcast. It is my pleasure to be joined today by Alabama GOP chairman John Wall. Chairman Wall, thanks so much for being with us today. No, it's a pleasure to be on the show. Well, the Alabama Republican Party just voted to ban GOP candidates from the Alabama Board of Education, local school boards, and country school superintendents, candidates running for those positions,

that is, from receiving donations from teachers' unions. So why did you all vote to block these candidates from receiving donations from the National Education Association or their affiliates? You know, for me, it's a really easy answer to that question. I want parents to be in charge of the children's education. I want our elected officials to put the children first, to put parents first above any special interest group and especially a liberal teachers union. You know, we see some of these policies that are coming out of the, you know, the NIA and the national level. They're so woke. You know, they're so progressive.

And I believe they care more about indoctrinating our children than they do about educating our children. So we're going to try to put an end of that here in Alabama. That's critical. Well, this is a big step, and it's one that I can imagine might receive a little bit of criticism because people might say, well, doesn't this give Democrat candidates a strategic advantage over Republican candidates in the state since Democrat candidates will still be allowed to receive campaign donations from teachers' unions? What's your response to that? You know, that's once again, I have a good response for that. This is Alabama. I've worked very hard building the state party here. we just did our summer dinner.

We had President Donald Trump as a guest speaker. We raised $1.2 million at that dinner. My summer, my winter dinner, we raised $700,000. And so I told all the school board candidates this simple fact, I will have your back. You don't need, who would you rather take money from? Liberal teachers union or the state Republican Party. So our candidates are not going to have to worry about any missed funding in the general elections. We're going to have their back.

We're going to make sure they know missed money. And we're going to win every one of these seats. can possibly win. So give us a little bit of just a sense of the landscape in Alabama, specifically around the issue of education. Obviously, in my state of Virginia, where I live in Northern Virginia, the fight around education has made national news in Loudoun County. Everyone's very familiar with policies being pushed in California schools that are incredibly far left. What has the fight looked like in Alabama to make sure that leftist policies aren't making their way into the classrooms. Well, you know, I think that's the battle we're under, because especially in a super red state like

Alabama, the assumption is, you know, we should have a better education system as far as these policies. But what people forget is we have, most of our curriculum is coming down from a federal department of education, that in all honesty has completely lost touch with the American people and the values of America. You know, this idea that America is special. you know that our founding fathers had this great concept of we the people and freedom and that America is an exceptional nation. It's a test, if you will, can a nation actually be founded on freedom and put people first and individual liberty first and limited government and really stand up for these principles and create a new nation that really had never been tried before in human history?

And those ideals are really losing. The Federal Department of Education has just a lot of lost sight of those concepts. We've seen them grow so woke and so out of touch with the American public. And that's coming down through that department into our education system. And it's whether it's California, you know, whether it's New York City or whether it's Alabama, we're kind of getting this cookie cutter education system. And I think that's what's really wrong across the country. So with this move to say those who are who are running for these education positions within in the state of Alabama, whether it's the State Board of Education, local school boards, or county school superintendent.

What are the responses that you're receiving from teachers and parents in Alabama over this change? Well, there are a lot of, the general public is incredibly excited about it. A lot of parents feel like they are out of touch. Some of them don't have access to the curriculum that their children are being taught, or their children are bringing home material

that they just really are not happy about. And I'm excited to, also report a lot of our local teachers have the same sentiment. In Alabama, most of our teachers are Republican, and they believe in these core values. And so when they see some of this curriculum, they're not wanting to teach it either. So I've actually had a very good response, even from some of the school board members. They've been tremendous, they're actually excited because this frees them from having to worry about being tied down by these education unions that for so long have controlled the education system.

Have you spoken with any GOP candidates, folks who are looking to run and who, you know, maybe are now having to rethink where some of their donations are going to come from? What do you anticipate to hear from them? I have spoken to a couple of the incumbents who are up for re-election this time. And those were actually, some of those that I spoke to were actually some of those that were excited about this change. You know, they really felt like this is something that frees them to really put the people first. and they don't have to worry about undue influence from a special interest group. That guys, let's be honest. There's only one purpose that these education unions exist.

And that's to lobby for the education, their facet of the education system. And there's only one reason school boards and superintendents exist. And that is to put forth the policies that regulate the school systems. So it's a direct conflict of interest. And that's what this is really about good policy. and taking that direct conflict of interest out. And I've been very impressed with how many people are excited to see that. They understand the problem, and they're very grateful to have this done.

How big of an impact do you think that this will have on really keeping a lot of the woke agenda out of our schools? I think at the end of the day, so many parents are opting to pull their kids out of the public schools because they can't know for sure, they can't be certain, right, that their child is not going to be receiving really an indoctrination education. So with this shift in Alabama, can you confidently tell parents, you can send your child to a public school and have peace of mind?

This is really just one piece of the puzzle. And I think there's so many other, so many things that are needed. This is a great step. I also am very supportive of a school choice. You know, the idea that the tag, once again, go back to the parents. Who should have control of a child's education?

It's the parents, not the government. You know, who cares more about what their children are facing than the parents do? So this is really just one piece of a puzzle, and it's going to be a long, hard process to really get our education system back where it needs to be. And I think hopefully this moves us in that direction. Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's talk a little bit about school choice, because you have been such an advocate for school choice in the state of Alabama. the Heritage Foundation's Education Freedom Report card ranks Alabama number 27 on school choice. What school choice programs are you advocating for in Alabama?

I want to see a, I almost hate to use the word universal because that's more of a democratic term, but a universal school choice system. It should not be based on where anyone lives. It should not be based on economics or anything else. Every student should have access to school choice. They should have access to equal funding that the state would spend on their education if they want to opt out and spend that money other ways. You know, it goes back to giving control back, not just to parents. This is a Republican concept of giving control back to the people.

You know, we the people is, you know, the beginning of the Constitution. And I think I very much view a system that it's 100% of the funding the state would spend and that every single student in the state has access to it. Well, of course, we have an election coming next year. And so a lot of folks are kind of asking the big question of what are those issues that are on the hearts and minds of Americans? In the state of Alabama, how highly does the education issue rank among voters, would you say? Oh, I think it's number one. So it's actually interesting. We did a here at the state party.

I love information. You know, I love statistics and looking at polling data. And one of the things I wanted to see was literally ask the question you just ask. you know, what issue is most important to you. And as I did this, I did think to something a little bit different because I've noticed this trend that education issues seem mid-table when that question is asked. With most consultants asked, they would throw a question in like, you know, what issue is most important to you name off a few things, the economy, creating jobs, I'm in our state, the lottery

would be on that list. And then on there would be improving schools. So I asked the similar questions that, you know, would be normally asking that range of questions, but I took out just improved schools and instead I put in the term protecting children from woke policies. And when I did that, we got a fascinating return in the polling. It went from a mid-table issue, just schools in general. But when you ask the question, protect children from woke policies, it was number one. And it was number one amongst Republicans. It was number one amongst independence and even amongst Democrats protecting children from woke policies was the third

most important issue. And that really highlights to me just how far we've gotten and how far out of touch the National Democrat Party and the Biden administration have gotten on this issue. What was most encouraging to me was the response from African Americans for the survey because it was within the margin of Arab being the most important issue to African Americans in the state of Alabama. Wow. Wow. Really critical. Now, in terms of other issues that are really on the minds of those in Alabama, just kind of looking big picture at the political landscape, especially for those who aren't very familiar with the political scene in Alabama, what are some of the other key issues that voters are concerned about there? Well, obviously the economy. That's inflation.

Yeah. You know, everybody feels it. Like, you know, I used to drive a F-250, and now I'm I have been Bidenized and I'm down to a Ford Explorer. So, you know, it's a serious thing. And I like to bring this back to the fact that bad policies have real world consequences. You know, when you look, it's not about personality of our politicians. It's about what policies do they put forth. And that's within the Republican Party. That's Republican versus Democrat.

That's across the board. When you look at your candidates, I always encourage people, don't look at them just because they have a great TV commercial. You know, don't vote for them because they have a great personality. Look at where they stand on the issues and how those issues are going to affect you. A good example of that is China. You know, 30 years ago, we gave China favorite nation trade status and gave us cheap goods temporarily. And then we overregulate it and we overtaxed our companies here in America. And then somehow Democrats are like shocked and surprised that all our manufacturers have moved to China.

But we created that with our bad policy. So that's something I try to educate people all the time. It matters. It really does matter who you elect leadership. And you may not feel it today, but you will feel it tomorrow. And that's what we're seeing with the inflation right now. I would say that's number two after protecting children from what policies. But I do want to go back to highlighting how important this culture war is. Because I think politicos and consultants across the country are missing this because they're not asking the right questions. And I I think we see that when we look at things like Glenn Yonkin's race in Virginia, where obviously a blue state that overwhelmingly went for a Republican. Or Ron DeSantis' election in Florida, where we took a swing state that Republicans would normally win by 3 or 4 percent, and he brought it home by over 20. That doesn't just happen. There's a groundswell there. And I think when you look at those key areas where Republicans have done well recently, it's been on the issue, kind of the social issue of protecting our children. Well, I think you're right because that at the end of the day, it's not a Democrat or Republican issue.

Protecting our kids and giving parents the power and the authority to bring up their kids in the way that they see fit. That's just human nature, right? We all want that. We all desire that for our kids. And I think everyone recognizes I send my child to school to learn to think, to learn to read, to learn to write, to learn math, science, not to learn an ideology. that's my job at home as the parent to teach the ideology that I see fit. And so it's such a powerful shift that we are seeing across the country. No, and I'm so excited to see independent voters, Democrat voters,

waking up to this fact. You know, we have a group of people who are trying to redefine what America is, and it's time for the American people to wake up and to reform, not just reform our country, but I put a challenge out to the Democrats. Reform your party. We do not want to become a socialist nation. And we desperately need reformers in every area of government and the political spectrum. Well, Chairman, while I want to get your thoughts on just some of the coming debates and what we might be seeing from, specifically from Republican candidates in the coming weeks, months.

So the Alabama Republican Party is likely to co-host a GOP debate sometime this fall. The first GOP debate, though, is on August 23rd. What do you think that the American people are going to be watching for and looking for in that debate? You know, it's a great question because I think a lot of the candidates are going to say the same basic thing. You know, this is a Republican primary. They're going to be talking about fiscal responsibility. They're going to be talking about even the pro-life issue. You know, they're going to be talking about protecting children from what policies.

I think what the Republican primary voters are looking for, is not so much a candidate who has the best rhetoric, because they're all going to have very similar. They're looking for which candidate do they trust to actually deliver. And I think that's something that is getting ignored. It almost doesn't matter, I think, what the exact issues are. What the number one issues to voters right now is, do they have faith in that candidate to be able to, do they,

does that candidate truly believe these things? And do they have the will to stand up in the backbone to fight when they're put into a foxhole on these important things? issues. Any predictions of what we're going to see on August 23rd during this first GOP presidential candidate debate? I think it's going to be an extremely interesting thing. And of course, right now, all questions are, does Donald Trump come? And I think that's going to be a very much a game changer in that, you know, and if he doesn't, what do the other candidates do? Do they still target him and kind of go after him even though he's not there? I don't know. It's going to be a very, very interesting

to see this is going to be this first debate is going to be where people really get to see the first time a lot of these candidates. And will we see shifts? You know, who comes kind of comes out of this as a dark horse, if you will. Yeah, it's going to be really fascinating to watch. Alabama GOP chairman, John Wall, Mr. Wall, thank you so much for being with us today. We really appreciate your time. No, it is a pleasure to be here. I appreciate the work that so many conservatives do across the country. And I'm glad to be a small part of the fight. as our founding fathers would have said, the Adam made a contest of For Liberty.

Absolutely. Well said. Thank you so much. All right. A pleasure. And with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks much for being here with us on the Daily Signal podcast this Monday.

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