Blog

Your Education Road Map

Politics K-12®

ESSA. Congress. State chiefs. School spending. Elections. Education Week reporters keep watch on education policy and politics in the nation’s capital and in the states. Read more from this blog.

Federal

Top House Lawmaker for Education Wants Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Off His Committee

By Andrew Ujifusa — January 28, 2021 1 min read
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wears a "Trump Won" face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House to take her oath of office on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 3, 2021.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Updated

The chairman of the House education committee wants a GOP congresswoman who has previously backed conspiracy theories about school shootings to be removed from his committee.

Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., wants Republican leaders to reverse course and rescind the decision to put Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on the House Education and Labor Committee. Scott is using as his reason Greene’s past support for baseless claims that the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was a “false flag” operation, and that other school shootings were somehow staged.

“House Republicans have appointed someone to this Committee who claimed that the killing of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged,” Scott said in a Thursday statement.

Scott added that by putting Greene on the committee, House GOP leaders were sending “a clear message to students, parents, and educators about the views of the Republican Party.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., bolstered Scott’s position on Thursday by condemning Republicans’ decision to put Greene on his committee, telling reporters, “What could they be thinking? ... It’s absolutely appalling.” In addition, Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., sent a letter to GOP leaders stating that Greene not be seated on the committee, citing Greene’s comments on school shootings. (Hayes’ district includes Newtown, Conn., the site of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.)

Recent revelations about Greene’s support for these conspiracy theories has caused an uproar among Democrats in Washington. Greene has also drawn national headlines for her support for QAnon, the name used for a range of conspiracy theories that the FBI has categorized as a domestic terror threat.

Republicans announced Greene’s appointment to the committee on Monday, although it had not been finalized and approved by GOP leadership and the full House.

A spokesman for the Georgia congressman did not directly address her past comments on social media about school shootings on Tuesday, and instead focused on Greene’s support for school choice and reopening schools, among other policies.

On Wednesday, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., announced that he would push to have Greene expelled from Congress. Gun-control advocacy groups have also said that Greene should resign from Congress.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Leadership in Education: Building Collaborative Teams and Driving Innovation
Learn strategies to build strong teams, foster innovation, & drive student success.
Content provided by Follett Learning
School & District Management K-12 Essentials Forum Principals, Lead Stronger in the New School Year
Join this free virtual event for a deep dive on the skills and motivation you need to put your best foot forward in the new year.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Modern Data Protection & Privacy in Education
Explore the modern landscape of data loss prevention in education and learn actionable strategies to protect sensitive data.
Content provided by  Symantec & Carahsoft

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Social Media Should Come With a Warning, Says U.S. Surgeon General
A surgeon general's warning label would alert users that “social media is associated with significant mental health harms in adolescents.”
4 min read
Image of social media icons and warning label.
iStock + Education Week
Federal Classroom Tech Outpaces Research. Why That's a Problem
Experts call for better alignment between research and the classroom in Capitol Hill discussions.
4 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022. Experts called for investments in education research and development at a symposium at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 13.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Federal Opinion Federal Education Reform Has Largely Failed. Unfortunately, We Still Need It
Neither NCLB nor ESSA have lived up to their promise, but the problems calling for national action persist.
Jack Jennings
4 min read
Red, Blue, and Purple colors over a fine line etching of the Capitol building. Republicans and Democrats, Partisan Politicians.
Douglas Rissing/iStock
Federal A More Complete Picture of Immigration's Impact on U.S. Public Schools
House Republicans say a migrant influx has caused "chaos" in K-12 schools. The reality is more complicated.
10 min read
Parents and community members rally outside P.S. 189 to protest New York City Mayor Eric Adam's plan to temporarily house immigrants in the school's gymnasium, seen in the background on May 16, 2023, in New York.
Parents and community members rally outside P.S. 189 to protest New York City Mayor Eric Adam's plan to temporarily house immigrants in the school's gymnasium, seen in the background on May 16, 2023, in New York.
John Minchillo/AP