McConnell challenges Garland on DOJ effort to address threats against public school board members and teachers

Washington (CNN) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday told Attorney General Merrick Garland that parents "absolutely should be telling" local schools what to teach amid a debate over mask and vaccine mandates, the role of racial equity education and transgender rights in schools that has become a flash point ahead of the 2022 midterms.

"Parents absolutely should be telling their local schools what to teach. This is the very basis of representative government," McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, wrote in a letter. "They do this both in elections and -- as protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution -- while petitioning their government for redress of grievance. Telling elected officials they're wrong is democracy, not intimidation."

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/09/politics/mitch-mcconnell-merrick-garland-what-public-schools-teach-threats/index.html