Education Advocate Rory Cooper Joins “It’s Bigger Than You Think”

“That’s a complete abject failure of the education and governmental system.”

Washington, DC — As the students return to classrooms amid a push by Democrats and their teachers union backers to further politicize public education, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) today released a new podcast episode of “It’s Bigger Than You Think,” featuring an interview with Purple Strategies Partner and education advocate Rory Cooper. Cooper discusses the disastrous impact school closures have had on students, the far-left’s push to politicize curricula and standards, and how radical teachers’ unions have underscored the importance of expanding school choice.

While Democrats have ramped up their efforts to impose their political agenda in schools across the country of late, the debate over education policy has especially intensified in Virginia and will be a top issue for voters heading to the polls in the Old Dominion in November. Virginia state Democrats earlier this year continually sided with their teachers’ union backers and blocked Republican efforts to immediately open schools. The harmful impact of the Democrats’ votes to keep schools shuttered was revealed last month when the commonwealth’s Standard of Learning test results were released and showed massive drops in performance. And amid reports that Virginia’s Department of Education is examining eliminating advanced diplomas, House Democrats in the commonwealth also recently voted against banning critical race theory.

“It’s Bigger Than You Think,” which is released bi-weekly at 2 PM ET and is available on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, and Youtube, contains in-depth discussions with current and former state Republicans, national thought leaders, and top political strategists about the outsized impact state government has on the everyday lives of all Americans.

Watch the full episode HERE. 

HIGHLIGHTS

Rory Cooper on teachers’ unions’ influence on the White House:

“The level of coordination between unions and the CDC and the Biden White House is frankly gross. What we’ve seen over the last year between Rochelle Walenski and her friends, Randi Weingarten and Becky Pringle. The emails go back and forth where the science has literally changed because of some political donors complaining. It’s appalling…”

Rory Cooper on education being a swing issue for Democrat parents:

“So I think that you are going to I think you’re going to see a lot of center-left and progressive moms and dads look at the last year and a half and say that, you know, they don’t have to be convinced and they don’t have to be educated. They saw the direct effect in their households, and it’s unprompted for them to complain and be upset about it.”

Rory Cooper on school closure disproportionately affecting women:

“So these school shutdowns, they also disproportionately affected women because they were the ones pulled out of the workforce to stay home with their kids who were learning online. And then that, you know, had a compound effect of these families are already struggling, financially, one of their people was pulled out of the workforce. Like it’s just, you know, expounded. I mean, the impact on moms in the workforce has been frankly, one of the most underreported issues over the last year. We’ve seen it in droves, you know, somebody had to be home with the children and financial decisions on child care versus working became much more difficult.”