comprehensive sex ed

More than 25 organizations and 80 individuals urged the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this month to oppose Penny Schwinn to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education.

President Trump nominated Schwinn for the position in January, citing her experience, commitment to school choice and willingness to return education to the states.

Co-signers, including Focus on the Family-allied Arkansas Family Council (AFC), argue Schwinn threatened parents’ rights, supported radical curricula and acted unethically in her previous roles as Chief Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Education Agency and Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education.

“Penny Schwinn’s track record is troubling to many conservatives,” AFC’s Assistant Director David Cox told the Daily Citizen. “Right now, a lot of families feel like their public schools have been used to promote radical ideologies, and there is concern that Schwinn won’t stand up against those ideologies as Deputy Secretary of Education.”

Here are the coalition’s chief concerns.

As Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education, Schwinn created a program allowing government officials to enter family’s homes for “child wellbeing checks.” The initiative would have applied to all families, not just those with children in public school.

Though Schwinn quickly nixed the idea following parents’ outrage, the letter argues it’s a black mark on her commitment to parent’s rights.

“‘Child wellbeing checks’ posed a threat to personal property rights and parental rights, contrary to the principles of the Trump administration as well as the U.S. Constitution,” it reads.

These kinds of programs can be used to frighten parents, like Erin Lee, who demand transparency in public schools.  You can learn more about Lee’s story here.

Parents in Williams County, Tennessee sued Schwinn and other education officials in 2022 for violating the state’s ban on Critical Race Theory (CRT).

The suit involves a controversial English curriculum called Wit and Wisdom. When the program failed to meet state education standards in two separate state reviews, Schwinn gave 33 counties waivers allowing them to teach unapproved books and resources, including Wit and Wisdom.

The work-around enraged parents, who complained the program taught principles consistent with CRT, in addition to graphic and age-inappropriate content. Schwinn declined to address parents’ complaints, arguing the program had been taught prior to the state’s CRT ban.

Trisha and James Lucente sued Schwinn, they explained, because the “curriculum was adopted through a process in violation of state law, and over the objections of several parents and educators who raised serious concerns about the graphic, racist and age-inappropriate nature of much of its content.”

The suit is ongoing.

Schwinn also faced formal consequences for favoritism after issuing Wit and Wisdom waivers.

An international book publisher and several district directors complained Schwinn followed an unfair approval process, disqualifying some curricula after it passed state reviews and, inexplicably, approving others that failed.

Schwinn had previous connections to Wit and Wisdom. She had adopted it for a charter school she founded in Sacramento — the same school now sitting on a Wit and Wisdom publisher panel.

As a result, the Tennessee legislature revoked Schwinn’s ability to issue waivers.

Schwinn has also been embroiled in several contract snafus, the letter explains. In Tennessee, she faced scrutiny for awarding an $8 million dollar contract to her husband’s employer.

Earlier, as Chief Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Education Agency, Schwinn awarded a $4.5 million agreement to a contractor she knew. Auditors eventually determined the contract violated purchasing rules, and Texas Education Agency had to pay the money back.

“If Penny Schwinn does not follow U.S. Department of Education Rules while in Texas, how can she be trusted to lead the Department, much less oversee its elimination?” the letter asks.

Schwinn’s history with DEI dates back to 2018, according to the letter, when she was a member of Chiefs for Change — a group of education officials working, in part, to implement DEI in schools.

In an interview clip that resurfaced on X, Schwinn describes her core values as, “Equity and integrity for all, no matter what.”

Women’s rights activist Riley Gaines reposted the clip in January, writing,

Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) are radical “rights-based” and “pleasure-based” sex ed curricula that affirm children’s right to consent to sexual activity.

As Chief Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Education Agency, Schwinn nominated several proponents of CSE to Texas’ Health Standards Committee, the body responsible for setting state sex ed standards.

Schwinn nominated Debra Hauser, the president of Advocates for Youth — an LGBT activist organization with ties to Planned Parenthood. The group supports “youth rights to bodily autonomy” and “confidential sexual and reproductive health services.” In other words, kids’ right to engage in sexual activities and treatments without parents’ knowledge or consent.

Hauser was not confirmed to the Health Standards Committee.

Melissa Peskin and Susan Tortolero, also nominated by Schwinn, contributed to It’s Your Game, a federally funded CSE program authored in conjunction with Planned Parenthood.

An analysis of It’s Your Game by Stop CSE, a database documenting problems with radical sex ed, found the middle school program contained nine of 15 harmful elements of CSE, including “[promotion of] premature sexual autonomy.”

Unlike Hauser, Peskin and Tortolero both made the final committee.

When it comes to education and public schools, parents must be able to make informed decisions about what their child is learning. Schwinn’s checkered past suggests she isn’t an ally parents can count on.

“Parents want to be confident in the leaders who help shape education policies,” Cox concludes. “Unfortunately, Schwinn’s track record just doesn’t provide that confidence.”

Senators need to think long and hard before they cast their votes.

Additional Articles and Resources

Download Equipping Parents for Back-to-School to find out more about what’s happening in schools and how to advocate for your children.

Planned Parenthood Uses Taxes to pay for Abortion, Radical Sex Ed

Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Comprehensive Sex Ed Protect Your Kids From Trans Activism: Look for These Red Flags