Rick Hess: What would you regard as the most significant accomplishments of your tenure?
Rep. Virginia Foxx: At the start of this Congress, I said, “You can’t have good governance without good oversight. And I intend to have both.” Following through on that mission, we have sent hundreds of oversight letters since the start of the 118th Congress. Our work helped expose the flawed management of COVID spending that created an environment conducive to fraud, waste, and abuse. The committee’s oversight work also uncovered that cost estimates for the Biden administration’s student-debt scheme were unverifiable and not grounded in reality. As elected representatives, it is our duty to hold the federal government to the highest standard of accountability so that tax dollars are used effectively and efficiently.
Hess: You mentioned COVID spending. In retrospect, what’s your take on the federal pandemic response to K–12 schooling? Did Washington do enough? Was the money well spent?
Foxx: After Republicans and Democrats in Congress allocated $70 billion in K–12 relief funds in 2020, Democrats insisted on spending another $120 billion of taxpayer funds on schools under the American Rescue Plan. Sending 300 percent more funding to K–12 schools than what is typically allocated by the Department of Education without instituting strong transparency and accountability measures is reckless. Money is not a cure-all, and it is irresponsible to throw more money at a problem and call it a solution. Let’s not forget that per-pupil education spending has increased significantly over the years, but high school seniors aren’t performing any better than they were 30 years ago.
Hess: What have you found most frustrating about your time on the committee?
Foxx: I really disagree with this outdated notion that everyone needs a baccalaureate degree to be successful in this country. It was pervasive and very frustrating when I first got to Washington. However, I think people are waking up to the fact that America is returning to a skills-based economy and that not everyone needs to go to a traditional college or university. It’s a battle I’ve fought for a long time. I think we are finally beginning to see the fruits of this new way of thinking as skills-based legislation, such as the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and the A Stronger Workforce for America Act, attracts more and more support.
Hess: You’ve long been a champion of school choice. Can you say a bit about your efforts on that front and what role you see for Congress going forward?
Foxx: I grew up poor. My parents didn’t have much, but they were extremely hard workers. I knew that the only way to get out of poverty was through education. This is why I fight tooth and nail to support school choice legislation, because educational choice is powerful—with it, students can be successful not just in the classroom but in the years after. Efforts to give students more choices are mostly happening at the state level, and one of the most promising pieces of federal legislation is outside my committee’s jurisdiction. Regardless of the source of the policies, I support all forms of school choice. To my mind, state governors and legislatures leading the mass adoption of school choice policies is one of the most positive educational developments in recent memory.
Hess: As a former educator yourself, what do you think educators may not realize about federal education policy?
Foxx: I don’t know if educators fully grasp the degree to which teachers’ unions involve themselves politically. Teachers’ unions are the education arm of the Democrat Party. Nearly 100 percent of their political donations go to Democrat politicians. Teachers’ unions have a huge influence over Democrat federal policy, too. The good news is that educators who are skeptical of the direction Democrat politicians have set for American schools can leave their unions without penalty.
Hess: Last year, the House passed your committee’s Parents Bill of Rights Act amid substantial pushback. Why did you support that legislation, and what do you think the critics got wrong?
Foxx: The Parents Bill of Rights Act rests on the principle that parents should always have a seat at the table when it comes to their children’s education. In recent years, I saw parents get left in the dark frequently and wanted to do something about it. Of course, any time you call for more accountability in public education—as this bill did—you get pushback from the Democrats and the teachers’ unions. I chalk up the criticisms to a fundamental disagreement. One of the Democrats even offered an amendment to rename the whole bill to say we were banning books, when the bill simply provides parents with a list of reading materials available in the library.
Hess: From your perspective, what were the key elements in that bill?
Foxx: When parents are involved in their child’s education, students thrive. That is the guiding principle of this bill. Specifically, the bill reaffirms five rights for parents: to know what schools are teaching, to protect their child’s privacy, to be heard, to see the school budget and spending, and to be updated on any violent activity at school.
Hess: You’ve criticized colleges and schools for failing to adequately address antisemitism in the wake of the October 7 attack against Israel. Can you say more about what you’ve seen and whether you think the situation has improved?