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FRANKFORT, Ky. (August 10, 2023) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today opposed the Biden Administration’s plan to withhold critical funds to schools with hunting and archery programs. The decision would harm over a million schoolchildren, including thousands of Kentuckians.
“President Biden doesn’t like shooting sports—it’s as simple as that. So his Administration is denying students and schools the funding that they need simply because schools have hunting or archery programs,” said Attorney General Cameron. “Kentucky kids shouldn’t pay the price for this Administration’s poor policy preferences.”
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Attorney General Cameron blasts the Department’s decision, calling it “the latest in a long line of Biden Administration policies that prioritize the woke agenda of the extreme left over the well-being of our children.” The letter goes on to say, “[w]ithholding education money because of a hunting or archery program is ‘yet another example of this Administration trying to [press its] radical agenda’ on our schools and children. The onslaught must stop.”
Attorney General Cameron argues that the Administration’s proposal misinterprets the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). While the BSCA amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to say that schools cannot use ESEA funding “for the provision” or “training in the use of” dangerous weapons, Congress did not intend for President Biden to rob schoolchildren of crucial funding. Even “[m]ultiple Senate Democrats agreed, noting ‘[a]ny defunding of schools who offer critical programs like archery and hunting clubs would be a gross misinterpretation of the legislation[.]'”
Shooting sports are a great way for kids to find community and build self-esteem. According to the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP), 1.3 million students participate in its archery curriculum every year, including thousands of Kentucky kids. Stripping those children of a chance to be part of a team, to compete, to learn, and to make friends could harm their physical and mental health.
Leaders from the General Assembly sent a letter of their own, calling for the Biden Administration to halt its defunding of shooting sports.
“Archery and hunting are activities that appeal to Kentucky students in rural and metropolitan areas and are hobbies enjoyed by individuals across the political spectrum,” said Senator Stephen West, Chair of the Senate Education Committee. “This troubling federal policy should bother everyone because it reeks of political opportunism. Worse still, it undermines important programs providing students with educational opportunities, motivation, critical life skills, and a sense of belonging.”
To read a copy of General Cameron’s letter, click here. |
