Right-wing activists using local school board races to push for greater control of public education didn’t make a dent in Tuesday’s election results.
One year away from the 2024 presidential election, voters largely rejected candidates backed by groups like Moms for Liberty that have aligned with GOP campaigns to undermine public education and restrict access to books, classroom materials and honest discussions of race, racism, LGBT+ people and gender and sexuality.
They’re already learning this.
I am in a solidly blue district. 4 out of the 7 school board candidates, ALL of the non-incumbents, were running on some sort of “family values” or “parents’ rights” platform. A couple of them were within a few hundred votes of taking a seat last year. This year, their statements to media were highly scrubbed because they knew to tread carefully and avoid the dog whistles. And this week, one of them unseated an incumbent (and the only POC in the group). I’m glad the trend is going in the right direction nationally. But I wouldn’t call for a victory lap just yet.