RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) released a report Tuesday claiming that some teachers “are abusing” their positions in an effort to indoctrinate kids, as Republican legislators seek to pass a bill dealing with critical race theory in schools.
The report comes months after Robinson formed a task force and asked people to submit examples of indoctrination occurring in schools.
“What this is, is an attempt to stop the abuse of the teaching profession by a few who are using that profession to put undue pressure on young minds,” Robinson said. “Those are the folks that are abusing that privilege, and that is what this is about, about ending that.”
A discussion about the report and the pending bill led to a heated exchange between Robinson and Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) as the senator questioned whether the submissions to the task force had been verified during a Senate committee meeting Tuesday morning.
“We’re spending time debating a Fox News-driven issue that’s more about fear-mongering and has turned into a fishing expedition,” Chaudhuri said to Robinson.
Robinson pushed back, saying, “The parents, teachers and students of North Carolina demanded it. And to sit here and call it a Fox News-driven issue, when I have stood with teachers who cried because they feel like their jobs and livelihoods and professions have been threatened, for you to call it that is an insult. An absolute insult. And, you know where my office is. And, you know that this task force is going on. When did you contact me? Please don’t turn this into some partisan issue.”