Biden Says ‘There’s No Such Thing As Someone Else’s Child’ While Honoring National Teacher Of The Year

Biden Says ‘There’s No Such Thing As Someone Else’s Child’ While Honoring National Teacher Of The Year

Reagan Reese on April 24, 2023

While honoring the 2023 National Teacher of the Year at the White House on Monday, President Joe Biden said that the nation’s children belong to everyone.

Shortly after recognizing Oklahoma high school math teacher Rebecka Peterson, the president used his Monday speech to call for an increase in teacher salaries and gun control legislation. Biden said in his speech that “there is no such thing as someone else’s child,” adding that the nation’s children are shared by everyone.

“There’s no such thing as someone else’s child,” Biden said. “No such thing as someone else’s child. Our nation’s children are all our children.”

During his speech, the president denounced “elected officials” who are trying to “ban” books and called for public schools to be a safe place for LGBTQ students and teachers.

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During the 2022 National Teacher of the Year ceremony, Biden also said that once children step into the classroom, they belong to the teacher.

“They’re all our children,” Biden said. “And the reason you’re the teachers of the year is because you recognize that. They’re not somebody else’s children. They’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.”

Throughout the nation parents are pushing back against public school administration at board meetings in order to have a say in their child’s education; in Maryland, parents protested a school board that refused to let them opt their children out of lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation. A Florida school district cancelled a survey that asked 10-year-olds about their sexual activity after a grassroots parental group brought it to the administration’s attention.