Washington Post 'Parents Have No Rights' Op-Ed Author Got Michigan School Stories Wrong Too

'Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids school curriculum. They don’t.'

By Tom Gantert | October 26, 2021

The author of a controversial op-ed in the Washington Post claiming parents have no right to determine what their children should be taught in public schools has a history of erroneous reporting on education-related Michigan topics.

Freelance writer Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, co-authored the Oct. 21 op-ed titled, “Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids school curriculum. They don’t.”

In 2019, Berkshire wrote an article for The Nation in which she erroneously tried to blame Michigan Republicans for school budget cuts.

Berkshire said that the Michigan GOP was “increasingly hostile to public education” and added “In Michigan and Wisconsin, voter blacklash against GOP spending cuts to school spending and the growth of school choice at the expense of traditional public schools helped Democrats retake governors’ mansions for the first time since 2011 and powered a blue wave in suburbs that have long been Republican strongholds.”

But Berkshire was wrong about “spending cuts.”

State spending on Michigan’s K-12 schools increased every year during the two terms of GOP Gov. Rick Snyder, who left office at the end of 2018. In fact, the last state budget bill reducing K-12 funding was approved by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Also, in 2017 Berkshire wrote a story for Alternet titled, “Want to See How School Choice Leads to Segregation? Visit Betsy DeVos’ Hometown.”

“Don’t believe me? Take a look,” it read. Anyone who did look would have discovered Berkshire’s claims lacked factual support.

She wrote, “And as DeVos well understands, a community that has little stake in its schools is unlikely to shell out money to pay for them.”

DeVos was born in Holland. The Holland Public School district put three property tax increases on the local ballot since 2010, and voters approved all three by overwhelming margins. Two of the debt proposals authorized borrowing a total of $73.1 million for improvements in 2010, and a third passed in 2021 for $74.7 million.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

Whitmer Maskless At D.C. Fundraiser

Not her first violation

By Tom Gantert | October 25, 2021

The Washington Free Beacon is reporting that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was not wearing a mask at a political event in Washington, D.C.

The news site posted images of Whitmer at a crowded bar at the Hotel Washington. The Washington Free Beacon reported that a hotel staffer said bar patrons were required to wear masks when not actively eating or drinking.

“Whitmer was not doing either while maskless,” the Washington Free Beacon wrote. “Several individuals standing near the governor were wearing masks.”

The Washington, D.C., health department has a mask mandate in place. The guidance states, “Masking rules: Everyone (including fully vaccinated people) must wear masks: UPDATE: in indoor public settings. This includes any business or establishment open to members of the public (including but not limited to: grocery stores, restaurants and bars (when not eating or drinking), places of worship, gyms, office buildings, libraries, indoor entertainment venues …”

The guidance also states, “Choosing not to wear a mask puts your own health as well as the health of others at risk (such as people who are not immunocompromised and may not be fully protected from the vaccine, and people who are not yet eligible to get the vaccine like children under the age of 12).”

Whitmer was in the nation’s capital to campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.

The Michigan governor has a history of violating COVID protocols.