Education head Chris Reykdal responds to Nazi comment

A story in The Washington Post centering around the Trump administration allegedly banning words within “multiple Health and Human Services divisions” prompted Chris Reykdal to send out a controversial tweet.

“Please go back and read your history,” the Washington state superintendent of public instruction tweeted. “The rise of Nazi Germany looked exactly like this current administration.”

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But was the tweet necessary?

Reykdal told Seattle’s Morning News that he’s “laid low” on politics. However, this was different.

“This is the first evidence I see of an administration essentially trying to wipe out science,” he said. “When you destroy language, you destroy culture and you destroy the ability to have critical thinking … There is a growing bit of momentum here by this administration to do things that look a lot like propaganda and manipulation of language, and I just think it’s a slippery slope.”

The Washington Post reported that employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were told they are prohibited from using the following seven words and phrases: “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

Reykdal says he’s monitoring tweaks being made by the federal government, which could have a long-term impact on how public schools spend federal dollars. He says everything from special education programs to bilingual programs could be at risk.

Listen to the entire interview here.