MISSION (Kan.) — Once sleepy and isolated, school board races have become the new front of a culture war raging throughout the nation as resentments about COVID-19 restrictions, and antiracism curriculum reach a boiling stage.
On Tuesday, voters will weigh in on the fate of dozens of races that have been overshadowed by heated debates about race, history, vaccinations, masks, and vaccines. These results will determine not only the policies of districts but also whether or not the education fight is part of the national discourse. This will be a major issue for Republicans during the 2022 midterms.
Conservatives are eager to take up this cause in order to move beyond the coronavirus panademic, and to reframe the discussion about racial injustices in America as an attempt to rewrite history.
Ballotpedia, a political tracking website, has identified 76 school district in 22 states in which candidates took a position on race in education. This theory or critical race theory holds that racism is systemic within American institutions. The National School Boards Association claims that it is not taught in public K-12 schools.
1776 Action is a group that was inspired by the disbanded 1776 Commission which played down America’s role as a slave nation. It has been asking candidates to sign a pledge calling on the restoration of “honest and patriotic education.” Adam Waldeck, the group’s president, stated that at least 300 candidates have signed the pledge.
Waldeck stated that 2021 will be seen as a “canary in the coal mine” of what’s to come next year and into the future. “This year will be the year when I believe primarily parents stand up to say, You know, I have a voice too.’ It’s going be overwhelming.
Board meetings have become so contentious that they are mocked on “Saturday Night Live”. Some board members have been called Nazis or child abusers. even compared some of the current events to “domestic terrorist” before apologizing.
Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, claimed that the right wing orchestrated protests to “turn school into battlegrounds with a goal of winning elections by politicizing both history and public health.” She also pointed out the Virginia governor’s election in which Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin took advantage of conservatives’ frustrations about schools regarding pandemic policies, diversity education, and other issues.
Even ex-Vice President Mike Pence is getting in on the action. He took a moment at a rally in Ohio Saturday to encourage voters to vote for conservative school board candidates in Tuesday’s election.
Waldeck stated that his group also sent targeted text messages and mailers in Johnston, Iowa where three candidates signed the pledge. In West Chester, Pennsylvania law enforcement was called in to investigate threats against Chris McCune, president of the school board.
McCune ordered the expulsion of a parent from a July meeting because she kept asking for information about critical-race theory after her two minute time limit expired. McCune, who is on Pennsylvania’s ballot, wrote a letter to Daily Local News in Pennsylvania stating that it was his duty to maintain order and that critical race theory is not taught in the district.
He stated that “national and local political forces continue urging residents to rally against local schools boards and CRT,” even though board members and administrators have offered meetings to discuss the district’s curriculum to show that it is not what they teach.”
The 1776 Project PAC is a separate entity from 1776 Action. It is headed by Ryan Girdusky (New Yorker political operative and author) and has made investments in races across the United States. According to the Federal Election Commission’s latest report, it raised $289,544 for the third quarter.
Jim McMullen said that he believes anyone who’s running was likely to have had their degree tipped by COVID. He is one of three candidates the group supports in Blue Valley, a suburb of Kansas City. Although McMullen was a former English teacher, and father to five children, he decided to run after the pandemic.
Schume Navarro from Colorado is running for Cherry Creek School District. She won the right to attend a candidate event without having to cover her face. A mother of five, she said that she is unable to wear masks because of the abuse she received as a child.
She said that masks are “stealing our children’s environment and culture.”
Jane Timken, the former Ohio Republican chair, has taken time out of her campaign for the U.S. Senate in order to provide guidance and funding to over 40 conservative candidates in hyperlocal school board elections.
Timken said that she had completed a “listening tour” on critical race theory and discovered cases where children were being “indoctrinated” with leftist policies.
Wisconsin’s Mequon voters will decide whether to replace the majority Mequon-Thiensville school boards. Amber Schroeder is an organizer for the Recall MTSD movement. She said that parents are concerned about critical race theory and academic performance. She sees it as evidenced in the district’s emphasis upon equity.
Schroeder stated, noting that the district has hired diversity consultants. It’s already infiltrated the curriculum.
Erin Shelton, a conservative candidate in Minnesota, has joined two other candidates to form a “Vote For Three!” platform. This platform denounces “harmful ideologies such as CRT,” political doctrine and “controversial health mandates” and would give them an ideological majority at Wayzata’s board.
Shelton stated via email that she doesn’t believe academic excellence is about making students feel victimized or responsible for their victimization.
Republican Governor Sarah Barthole gave a prominent endorsement to Sarah Barthole, the Iowa masking opponent. Kim Reynolds is running for the Ankeny school board in suburban Des Moines. Barthole, who worked last year with Reynolds to reopen schools, is credited for instigating the state’s ban on mask mandates in schools.
Steve Boal, Barthole’s treasurer and whose wife was on the board for more than 20 years, said that “the level of involvement in her campaign is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a school board race.” “Usually it’s a very low-key affair.”
Tina Descovich, cofounder of Moms for Liberty (a Melbourne, Florida-based group whose 142 chapters are located in 35 states, has predicted that the governor’s support in this race is only the beginning.
“Our governor in Florida has all but stated he’s going be involved in school board elections,” Descovich, who was a member of the Brevard County Schools Board in Florida, said. “I am curious to see how that will look in 2022.”
