Statement from Phillip C. Parrish, Candidate for Governor of Minnesota 2026
For Immediate Release
May 18, 2025
Minnesotans, the evidence is undeniable: Governor Tim Walz’s Due North Education Plan is a catastrophic failure, dragging our schools, our children, and our families into a quagmire of declining standards and ideological overreach. As a father, a patriot, and your candidate for Governor, I am outraged by Walz’s refusal to confront the wreckage of his policies and the Minnesota Department of Education’s complicity in ignoring the stark realities staring us in the face. Our public schools are hemorrhaging students, test scores are plummeting, and families of every ethnicity are fleeing a system that prioritizes radical agendas over education. It is morally and ethically bankrupt to turn a blind eye to these failures while doubling down on a one-size-fits-all vision that demands compliance at the expense of our children’s futures.
Under Walz and the MNDFL, Minnesota’s education system has become a battleground where parents are stripped of their rights and dictated to by a government that insists public schools are the only option. Walz’s message is clear: ignore the results, trust his way, and conform. Reading proficiency has crashed from 59% in 2019 to a shameful 50% in 2023, math scores have tanked to 45.5%, and racial achievement gaps remain among the widest in the nation. Yet, instead of addressing these failures, Walz slashes $109 million in aid for private and homeschool families and $40 million from charter schools, financially coercing parents into a failing public system. This is not leadership—it’s arrogance. It’s a deliberate attempt to trap families, especially our low-income and minority communities, in schools that are not serving them, all to prop up a bloated bureaucracy and appease teachers’ unions.
Across Minnesota, ethnic communities—Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and others—are voting with their feet, abandoning public schools rather than complying with Walz’s radical trans refuge policies and divisive curricula. These families are not rejecting education; they are rejecting a system that imposes gender ideology and ethnic studies mandates while neglecting basic reading, writing, and math. The so-called “equity” of Due North has backfired, fostering resentment and segregation as families seek alternatives that align with their values. Walz’s trans refuge law, which grants the state power to intervene in family decisions about gender-affirming care, is the epitome of moral decay—a policy that prioritizes ideology over parental authority and child welfare. It’s no wonder enrollment is down to 870,000 students, with families of all backgrounds choosing private, charter, or homeschool options to escape this chaos.
The Minnesota Department of Education, under Walz’s watch, has lost its moral and ethical compass. Instead of empowering students with skills for a purpose-driven life, it pushes DEI and LGBTQ agendas that alienate parents and distract from academic excellence. The department’s silence on declining test scores and chronic absenteeism is deafening, a betrayal of the trust Minnesotans place in our schools. Walz’s vision of inclusion excludes the very families he claims to serve, forcing them to either conform or flee. This is not governance—it’s tyranny dressed up as compassion.
As your next Governor, I will deliver a bold, parent-centered revolution in education. In a Parrish administration, school choice will be the cornerstone of our system. Tuition will follow the child, empowering parents to choose public, private, charter, or homeschool options that best serve their children’s needs. We will slash the bloated, nonproductive bureaucracy that siphons resources from classrooms, redirecting funds to teachers and students where they belong. I hear and see the frustration of parents across all ethnicities—your voices are not ignored. I will act swiftly to restore trust and accountability.
We will dismantle the divisive DEI and LGBTQ agendas that have hijacked our schools, refocusing education on the basics: reading, writing, math, and job-based skills that prepare students for a purpose-driven life. Under my leadership, Minnesota’s schools will instill a moral and ethical compass, teaching our children to think critically, act responsibly, and contribute to a thriving society. No more mandates that pit parents against educators or force families into systems that fail them. No more policies that erode family values under the guise of progress.
Minnesotans deserve better. Our children deserve better. I pledge to fight for every family, every student, and every community, restoring education as a beacon of opportunity, not a tool of ideological control. Join me in rejecting Walz’s failed experiment and building a future where parents are empowered, students are equipped, and Minnesota leads with integrity once again.
Phillip C. Parrish
Candidate for Governor of Minnesota 2026
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