U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville in a wide-ranging interview with Donald Trump Jr. on Thursday decried the quality of public school education, saying children today are “addicted” to social media and yet don’t have basic proficiency in math and reading.
In an episode of Trump’s streaming show “Triggered,” Tuberville spoke of his time as a football coach, saying he spent some of his own money during his career to make sure players could read.
However, he said, the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the influence of teacher unions, have resulted in widespread failures in public education.
“The COVID really brought it out how bad our schools are and how bad our teachers are, in the inner city. Most of them in the inner city, I don’t know how they got degrees,” Tuberville said.
“I don’t know whether they can read and write. And they want a raise. They want less time to work, less time in school. It’s just, we’ve ruined work ethic in this country. We don’t work at it anymore. We push an easy life.”
Tuberville cited a published report that 23 Baltimore City schools had no students who tested proficient in math.
“If you can’t read and if you can’t write, you can’t live in a country like this and not have somebody help you make it through life, which is what a lot of this government wants,” Tuberville said.
Attempts to contact Tuberville’s office for clarification were not immediately returned.
It was Donald Trump, Tuberville said, who inspired him to go into politics, as a man with no political experience.
“You can make a lot more money coaching, to be honest with you,” he said.
