Panels are dominated by those who care more about union agenda than our children
By Kimberly Fletcher – Monday, June 17, 2024
OPINION:
Conservative school board members are under attack.
The left is proving once again that they will not respect people’s privacy or legal rights. Courageous people who are holding back the tide of radicalism in public schools face threats and harassment.
Recently, we have seen attacks on Chad Green in Texas, Robert Wojtowicz in Michigan, Darbi Boddy in Ohio and Tony Mays in Colorado. These are all exemplary school board members who aim to serve the students’ best interest in their districts.In the past few years, we have witnessed an unprecedented grassroots movement to take back our school boards. For too long, school boards have been dominated by activists who care more about the teachers unions’ politicized agenda than our children’s best interests.
After our public schools’ disastrous and unnecessary shutdowns in 2020, parents wanted their children back in school learning math and reading. No more Zoom classes and no far-left indoctrination in the curriculum.
Many of Moms for America’s members were willing to step up and run for office. Through our partnership with the National School Boards Leadership Council, or NSBLC, we have equipped parents to run for office and implement commonsense policy changes that support the best interests of students.
We have made huge strides in electing parents and grandparents who put the interests of children above the political maneuvering of the radical leftist teachers unions. In many school districts, including some of the largest in Texas, parents flipped notoriously left-wing school boards.
Now that we have won so much ground, we face a new threat: School board members are being threatened. Teachers unions’ new tactic is to spend large amounts of money recalling good school board members who prioritize high-quality education and student success.
We have seen this time and again. When Marxist agitators fail to maintain control, they turn to intimidation and violence. Take the example of Scott Henry, trustee and now president of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Texas. Activists dissatisfied with Mr. Henry’s successful efforts to focus on educating children sent him death threats, and reporters posted themselves outside his family’s home.
In addition, activists identified Mr. Henry’s employer, based in California, and ensured that he was fired for advocating commonsense policy on the school board.
It will not stop there. Mr. Henry has refused to resign from his duly elected position and continues to serve his community. His example of courage is commendable. Now, however, other board members are likely to face the same persecution.
Unlike the career activists of the teachers unions and their leftist cronies, our patriotic moms and dads on the school boards have employment outside their roles as public servants. The activists know this. In a recent Facebook post, a commenter said the quiet part out loud when he wrote: “You need leverage to get them to resign. They should all have careers outside of their board position and families. Start there.”
With emerging information about the obscene materials available in public school classrooms and libraries, parents are increasingly calling on school boards to align with the priorities of groups like Moms for America’s partner NSBLC. Parents understand that the priority must be academic learning in a competitive environment. “Woke” identity politics have no place in a taxpayer-funded school.
And yet as more parents are calling on school boards to affirm the action items of groups like the NSBLC, political operatives on the boards are rejecting them. In a Jan. 11 meeting of the school board in Milford, Ohio, Moms for America was accused of radicalism, and the NSBLC was rejected without discussion.
When pushed, progressives on the school board will claim that the school board cannot partner with any “politicized” organization. But the NSBLC has documented the clear politicization of school boards. The Coalition of State School Board Associations, known or COSSBA, which began after the National School Board Association, or NSBA, became too politically entrenched, is a perfect example. Despite the name change, the goals of the COSSBA have come to align almost perfectly with those of the NSBA.
These goals include many items related to entitlement programs, mental health and social services, but not much about actual education. The COSSBA and NSBA seem more concerned with getting children on computers than ensuring they know math and reading, despite the demonstrated negative outcomes of screen time on children’s development.
While the COSSBA continues to tell school boards it is unethical to allow special interest groups to influence them, there are clearly special interest groups in charge already. Moms for America and the NSBLC seek to equip parents with the tools to advocate for their children. Parents want schools to teach math, reading and writing – and that desire should not be controversial.
The silent majority wants our schools to leave politics at the door and get back to educating. Now that courageous parents are running for the school board — and winning – progressive radicals in the system are trying to intimidate and silence them. More parents need to become aware of the issues and enter the fight.
Our children’s future depends on our actions today.
Kimberly Fletcher is an author, radio host, and Founder & President of Moms for America.
