The GOP's International Baccalaureate Problem

For most of my adult life, I served in public office as a Democrat, representing my neighbors in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi. While Mississippi politics can be cutthroat, Republicans and Democrats tend to get along because we are a small state and often have mutual friends, and sometimes family members.

When I served in Congress, I was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition which made up the conservative wing of the Democratic Party. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I have many close friends who are Republicans, and while I was in politics I often worked across the political aisle to get things done.

I’m saying all this is so that you know who I am, and therefore can understand why I am concerned about the Republican Party being co-opted by ultra-conservatives who often have viewpoints on issues I find to be completely outside the mainstream of American thinking.

For example, in recent months, the International Baccalaureate program has been under attack by conservative groups and Republican state legislators who claim that it promotes an anti-American viewpoint and undermines a national identity in favor of promoting global citizenship. 

Conservative critics of IB have asserted that IB programs equate to “a new world order… that’s more in line with socialism rather than the natural rights of citizens.” And, unfortunately, some are buying into this messaging. In March, the Republican held House of Representatives in New Hampshire passed a bill to ban IB in state schools.  Just a few years ago, Republicans in Utah did the same thing in their state capitol.

These attacks on IB are complete nonsense and demonstrate just how out of touch conservatives are with political moderates and independent voters. 

In truth, the International Baccalaureate program exists to educate students across the world on how to be successful, well-rounded citizens of in our increasingly global society. With this mission in mind, the IB program is currently offered in more than 3,300 schools in more than 140 countries, serving more than 1 million students according to the IB website.

The classes that are part of the IB program are considered college level, and students graduating with an IB diploma often receive college credit for their work; more than 1000 universities in the country recognize the IB Diploma as a mark of excellence, including Brown University, MIT, Princeton and the U.S. Naval Academy. 

I myself am a former educator and know that IB is very popular around the country. In fact, most school districts and communities are thrilled to be involved with the IB program. 

Some mainstream Republicans I have spoken to about this insist that I am off-base and that attacks on the IB are from the party's extreme fringe and not from the mainstream at all. If they are right, then why does the 2012 Standing Platform for the Minnesota Republican Party explicitly state that: "there should be no state and federal support of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and the adoption of IB by local school districts?"  The Minnesota Republican party isn't outside the GOP mainstream -- it is the mainstream!  

I may be a life-long Democrat but I think that it is important that the Republican party stand-up for issues like fiscal conservatism and a modest foreign policy. Sadly, I think these conservative ideals have been whittled away from the Republican Party over the last decade. These days, some of the people controlling the GOP think that an educational program good enough for the U.S. Naval Academy is really a global socialist plot to undermine American sovereignty.

Mainstream conservatives know that these kind of conspiracy theorists are bad news for the Republican Party. In fact, I was pleased to read an recent op-ed by Ken Blackwell saying as much. I hope more Republicans will catch-on and defend common sense and educational programs like the International Baccalaureate from the fringe of their party.