GOP demands answers and accountability from Biden defense secretary on DEI in military base schools

GOP members of the U.S. House of Representatives are seeking an explanation after it was disclosed that Department of Defense (DoD) educators are radicalizing kids at K-12 military schools.

Eighteen Republican Congress members signed a letter sent to Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a group that tracks federal spending issued a report that alleges diversity, equity and inclusion ideology (DEI) is still being taught in the Pentagon’s public schools.

The report from Open The Books (OTB) notes that the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) promised in 2023 that “it would be dismantling its DEI department and transferring the DEI chief” to a different position, unrelated to the radical diversity curriculum, after a public outcry questioning the ideological bias in military K-12 schools.  

In March 2023, the DoDEA’s DEI chief, Kelisa Wing, was removed from her post after it was found she used her position to promote woke ideologies through her personal writings, said a congressional statement following hearings on the DoD schools.   

But instead of dismantled DEI, Open The Books found that the Pentagon disguised the curriculum, alleging the DoD’s K-12 schools’ radical “ideological operations [were] driven deeper underground.”   

Headed by U.S. Reps. Elise Stefanik, New York, and Jim Banks, Indiana, 16 additional GOP members of the House Armed Services Committee wrote to DoD Secretary Austin that the members “are requesting written responses and a briefing for our staff [from Austin] no later than August 16, 2024.” 

Specifically, the letter said that there is “clear and immediate need for greater transparency and accountability within DoDEA.”  

The letter from Republican House members said, far from cleaning up the radical curriculum, the removal of its DEI chief “only served as coverups to enable DoDEA to further integrate DEI into every aspect of our nation’s military schools.”   

The report from Open The Books also alleges that requests for information are being stonewalled by DoDEA, with requests sometimes taking months and years, and when returned, the information is in “heavily redacted” form.  

The report says that DoDEA is trying to hide the woke curriculum by using “free” materials provided by radical groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center.  

The watchdog group also alleges that the Pentagon’s K-12 schools “are collecting sensitive information from students daily” with no assurances that the data is being safely stored.  

Some of the lessons taught in DoDEA schools use text “which rebukes capitalism, ‘patriarchy,’ traditions like Thanksgiving, and America’s existence as a country,” said the group.  

“If parents are uncomfortable with any of the curriculum that is being taught to their 

children, how are they able to remove their children from the classroom or project while still ensuring their children can be academically successful?” asked the GOP House members.   

Unlike other parents of students in federal government run schools overseas, parents with kids in Pentagon-run K-12 schools aren’t being given a choice. 

“Radical woke ideology is rotting out the schools of our service members’ children and ‘instead of addressing this, you have only exacerbated it. Our service members should not have to choose between serving their country or saving their children. You owe the American people and especially our service members answers and accountability,” concluded the letter from the GOP Armed Services Committee to Austin. 

Austin has been committed to DEI since his appointment, repeatedly sparring with members of  Congress over DoD DEI practices, which the GOP claims has morale plunging in the military, which should run on the ethos of merit, not identity.