Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., declared that it's his belief that parents' role in their children's education should be "primary."
"Parents' role in education should be primary. They should have control over what is taught to their children," Johnson told Fox News Digital at the Wisconsin State Fair earlier this month.
The Wisconsin senator contrasted himself with Democrats' stance on education, citing former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's infamous comments about parents' role in schools. During one of the debates, McAuliffe said he didn't think parents should make their own decisions and tell schools what they should teach.
"I'm not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision," the former governor said during a debate. "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."
"And the fact that Democrats like Terry McAuliffe said he didn't think there is any role for parents," Johnson said. "No, parents' role ought to be primary."
The senator attributes the reason why parents are becoming move involved in their kids' schools to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
"And what happened during COVID is parents started seeing what was being taught to their children, the indoctrination," he said. "They got pretty upset, so hopefully they will continue to respond as they have, peacefully, showing up at school board meetings, or even better run for school board themselves. That's what happened here in Wisconsin."
In Wisconsin, there have been at least 17 recall efforts directed at school boards, relating to the way they handled COVID-19, according to United Press International.
In Kenosha, parents protested the mask mandates last year by threatening to keep their kids home on the date when enrollment is counted – which determines the district's funding, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
MILWAUKEE PARENTS LASH OUT AGAINST MASK MANDATE REVIVAL: ‘A BUNCH OF BULLIES AND COWARDS’
Johnson also slammed the White House for taking input from the American Federation of Teachers on setting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy.
"I do know the Biden administration looked to the teachers union… to set health policy during the pandemic, which is absurd," he said. "They were basically doing the bidding of the teachers union in how we harmed our children during COVID."
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Johnson will face off against Wisconsin Democrat Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes in the general election.
Fox News' Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.
