A group of House Republicans is demanding the resignation of military school leadership amid reports that the Department of Defense was teaching children diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology in its schools and pushing students to be activists.
In a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday evening, 18 Republicans demanded a leadership change at the Department of Defense Education Activity, or DoDEA, which operates schools globally for the children of U.S. service members, after a watchdog report revealed the agency was pushing DEI, social justice activism, and sexually explicit materials.
“It is shameful and unsustainable that while our servicemen and women are risking their lives to defend our nation, their children are being taught that America is a racist country not worth fighting for," Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, said in a statement. "My House Republican colleagues and I will continue to expose and eradicate the woke indoctrination that is destroying our service-members’ trust in DoDEA schools."
The letter, led by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), comes after watchdog OpenTheBooks revealed DoDEA was using "transformative SEL," or social-emotional learning, a DEI-infused style of teaching that injects discussion of "privilege" and "identity" into classroom instruction and is "intended to turn students into radical activists," the letter stated.
The OpenTheBooks report also noted that certain techniques used by teachers were meant to make children cry and involved the constant recording and data collection of children's emotional states throughout the day using tech platforms such as Google Workspace for Education, Google Classroom, and Pear Deck.
DoDEA "administrators and teachers continue to attempt to indoctrinate our service members' children with divisive gender, racial, and cultural ideology," the letter stated. "The teachers of our service members' children cannot internalize, accept, and regurgitate false claims that American's existence as a sovereign nation should be in question. This is inherently in opposition to the selfless choice our service members make to serve, protect, and defend the United States of America."
A defense official told the Washington Examiner, "The Department of Defense replies directly to members of Congress in matters of this type. We have no further information to provide.”
The letter also noted that this kind of instruction at military schools is likely to add to the military recruitment and retention crisis currently facing the Defense Department.
"I’m calling on Secretary Austin and the Biden-Harris Administration to completely end all efforts to indoctrinate our service members’ children with Far Left DEI propaganda," Stefanik, whose Servicemember Parents Bill of Rights was signed into law, said in a statement. "Our service members face many challenges and ensuring their children receive a high-quality patriotic education should not be one of them."
DoDEA has been wading through DEI controversy for some time, however, which led to the agency's DEI division being dissolved and its chief, Kelisa Wing, removed after she wrote anti-white messages on social media. Despite that, a DEI "steering committee" remains intact.
"It is evident that the dissolving of the DEI Office and the removal of Kelisa Wing only served as coverups to enable DoDEA to further integrate DEI into every aspect of our nation's military schools," the letter stated.
In the letter, members of Congress demanded the Department of Defense justify its use of social-emotional learning and explain what it intends to achieve with the radical teaching mechanism. The letter also asked the Pentagon about what measures it is using to protect children's data, the abilities of parents to remove their children from offensive classroom content, and future plans to change curriculums.
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It also noted that, despite the parental bill of rights being signed into law, the department failed to produce a report about parental rights as required by law in January.
The Defense Department has until Aug. 16 to respond.
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