Rep. Owens to Newsmax: Americans ‘At War’ With Ed System

U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Newsmax on Wednesday that Americans are “on the march” and are “at war” with the failing public education system, especially in large Democratic-run cities.

“You do understand that no matter where you live, we are under attack by a cultural Marxist ideology, and right now it has been pushed down by [President Joe Biden’s] administration,” Owens told “Rob Schmitt Tonight.” “But here’s the good news. Americans, once they realize that we’re at war, we stand up and we fight. We come together no matter what side of the aisle we are on, and we figure out how we can make sure our kids move forward and succeed, versus being left with hopelessness. And when you take away people’s hope, you are left with no soul, and that’s what we’re seeing.”

Owens has co-sponsored legislation in the House called the Educational Choice for Children Act that would allow for individuals and businesses a new tax credit for charitable contributions to tax-exempt organizations that provide scholarships to elementary and secondary school students. Those students must be members of a household with incomes not greater than 300% of the area’s median gross income and be eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school.

“Educational freedom is the civil rights issue of our time.” Owens said Tuesday during a hearing for the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, of which he is a member. “Educational freedom supports students over systems and gives every child in America — regardless of his or her zip code — the opportunity to achieve the American dream. I have seen first-hand how access to a quality education can change the course of a child’s life. Educational freedom can give someone a second chance in life.”

Owens said the legislation would allow students, especially those in big cities where schools are failing, to be educated somewhere else and not tied to their zip code, and without taking any funding away from local districts.

“That’s what we are seeing, unfortunately, in these Democratic cities, but we’re on the march,” he said. “Now we have, I think, a conference that has prioritized education in a big way.”

Owens said Democrats have used the system for decades to make more and more impoverished people dependent on welfare and social programs.

“We can’t keep up with the chaos,” he said. “We have an administration that uses our children, make them desperate, use our poor parents, make them desperate, so [Democrats] can become more powerful.”

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