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FACT SHEET: The Anti-Education House GOP Doesn’t Actually Care About Kids, Learning, or Safety

Apr 25, 2023

The MAGA Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is hosting yet another hearing, this time to accuse a top teachers union of deliberately keeping schools closed longer than necessary. But this isn’t really about educational quality, learning outcomes, or even K-12 students. The MAGA GOP has always been anti-union and the American Federation of Teachers already called out the committee for making “false and misleading claims” about the union over a week before the actual hearing. 

Time and time again, top committee members have voted against billions in funding dedicated to safely reopening schools, opposed measures to prevent gun violence in schools, and opposed pandemic aid for children and families. Their latest plan to hold the debt ceiling hostage in exchange for cuts in spending would slash food aid for children and funding for gun violence research and preparations for future public health emergencies—including educational disruptions. House Republicans don’t really care about kids’ education or public health. They just want to use the issue to push partisan stunts that fit their MAGA agenda.

House Republicans Opposed Funding Necessary For Reopening Schools & Supporting Working Families

  • February 2021: House Republicans Voted Against Pandemic Aid Earmarked For Safely Reopening Schools. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against allocating $130 billion to safely reopen schools, which was included in the American Rescue Plan. [H.R. 1319, Roll Call 49, 2/27/21]

  • November 2021: House Republicans Voted Against $400 Billion In Universal Pre-K and Childcare Programs. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against allocating $400 billion to help states build universal prekindergarten and affordable child care programs, including $100 billion in funding for expanding child care programs, all included in the Build Back Better Act. [H.R. 5376, Roll Call 385, 11/19/21]

  • May 2022: House Republicans Voted Against Funding To Safely Reopen and Reinvest In Underfunded, Marginalized Schools. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against the Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which would have invested in the most underfunded, marginalized schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff. [H.R. 604, House Committee on Education & Labor Roll Call 6, 5/18/22]

The House GOP Debt Ceiling Plan Proves Republicans Don’t Really Care About The Well-Being of Our Children

  • House Republicans Want To Reduce Food Aid For Impoverished Children. The House GOP is holding U.S. spending hostage, pushing for cuts to federal spending in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. As part of their plan, Republicans have proposed spending cuts to key food aid programs, including a program that provides more than one million low-income parents, infants, and children with access to baby formula and nutritious food.

  • House Republicans Want to Slash Spending Earmarked For Preventing Future Public Health Emergencies. The House GOP plan would cut nearly a quarter of the federal funds currently earmarked for the Department of Health and Human’s Services Preparedness and Response agency, which focuses on preventing and preparing for public health emergencies—like the very pandemic that forced school closures in the first place.

  • House Republicans Want to Slash Spending On Gun Violence Prevention & Research. The House GOP plan would cut spending on violence prevention and gun violence research by 22%, limiting critical resources used to research prevention strategies for school shootings and gun violence. There have been 377 school shootings since 1999, endangering more than 349,000 students exposed to gun violence. 

House Republicans Voted Against School Safety

  • July 2022: Subcommittee Republicans Voted Against Regulating The Assault Weapons Used In Deadliest School Shootings. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against regulating assault weapons, opposing a bill that would have reduced mass shooting fatalities by up to 70%. Assailants used high-capacity semi-automatic weapons in several of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, including at Sandy Hook, Uvalde, Parkland, and Columbine. Several of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, including Sandy Hook, Uvalde, and Parkland, all involved high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles widely considered assault weapons. [H.R. 1302, Roll Call 408, 7/29/22]

  • June 2022: Subcommittee Republicans Voted Against Bipartisan Violence Prevention Measures In Schools. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which provided funding for pending grants to schools for violence prevention—including $1 billion to the Department of Education for school safety programs, crisis intervention programs, and school personnel training. The bill also implemented new gun safety laws and provided funding for mental health services programs, particularly in schools, through Medicare. [S 2938, Roll Call 299, 6/24/22]

House Republicans Voted Against Pandemic Aid For Children and Families

  • December 2020: Several House Republicans Voted Against Allocating $54 Billion In Pandemic Relief Funding For K-12 Schools. Dozens of House Republicans, including select subcommittee member Michael Cloud (R-TX), voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which allocated $69 billion for vaccines, testing, and health providers, $54 billion to public K-12 schools, $13 billion to increase SNAP benefits, and $10 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant program. [H.R. 133, Roll Call 250, 12/21/20]

  • February 2021: Subcommittee Republicans Voted Against Hundreds of Billions in Pandemic Aid Earmarked for Children and Families. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against the American Rescue Plan, which allocated billions of dollars in pandemic aid. The ARP spent $160 billion on the national vaccination program and response, $1,400 per person in relief payments, and increased the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,000 per child over age 6 and $3,600 per child under age 6. The ARP also increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15 percent, increased the Earned Income Tax Credit, expanded child care assistance and provide an additional tax credit for childcare costs, provided $1 billion to states for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, and lowered health insurance premiums for families. [H.R. 1319, Roll Call 49, 2/27/21]

  • November 2021: Subcommittee Republicans Voted Against Expanding A Tax Credit That Slashed Child Poverty By 30-50%. Every returning Republican on the select subcommittee voted against the Build Back Better Act, which would have expanded the Child Tax Credit, giving families $300 per child under the age of 6 and $250 per child between ages 6 and 17. The Child Tax Credit was widely credited with lifting 2.9 million children out of poverty, and experts estimated that 3.7 million more children became impoverished after the Child Tax Credit expired in December 2021.  [H.R. 5376, Roll Call 385, 11/19/21]