Why are white conservatives so obsessed with school boards now?

[Kath2]

They don't want kids to know the true racist and sexist history of this country. Slavery and racism have never been properly addressed. How long did it take for women to even get the right to vote? How long and difficult was the fight for abortion rights? And now that is being eroded and destroyed. If teachers tell the kids that this is a country founded on racism and sexism they are simply telling the truth. The right wing wants to go to the 50's and sugar coat all of it. No. Tell the truth.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. They have been trying to stack school boards since Reagan.

They are still pissed that they can't impose christian schools on everyone, school prayer, privatize them to drive the common folk out.

They want to recreate the peasant class.

[musette_sf]

2. +1

I was just about to post, been going on since Reagan.

[keithbvadu2]

6. Many of our right wing brethren want to put forced public prayer and the Bible back in the schools.

Many of our right wing brethren want to put forced public prayer and the Bible back in the schools.

They have no qualms about using the gov't to foist their own religious beliefs on the children in public schools without letting the parents decide how they want their children raised.

[Initech]

11. Seems like it's got worse since TFG.

Some school boards aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're out to impose a religious fascist authoritarian world view in their schools. They're very open about it. It's truly insane.

[Whiskeytide]

25. I think it has. It use to be that ...

… traditional conservatives sought such positions to seek gradual, incremental changes designed to try and shape political world views and cause a general “dumbing down” via suppression of critical thought skills.

Now it’s cocaine addled squirrels screaming Maga spawned conspiracy theories!

[Initech]

37. Yup and we have some in my district!

When I found out that my school board was banning books and CRT in classrooms, I just about blew a gasket. And now it looks like the students are getting punished because Cal State and UC both said that if students don’t read the required materials, they won’t get in. Which is really hurting the students. Really, fuck these MAGA conspiracy theory lunatics.

[Whiskeytide]

38. A few months back, someone here said ...

… that “people who burn books never come off well in the history books”. I remember thinking - “unless they successfully burn the history books too”.

I think this is a more dangerous time than many realize. They are absolutely gunning for the dismantling of public education on a widespread scale. I fear this country is destined to suck even worse in 30-40 years. The guy at the counter of the McTacobellurgerBucks will never be able to make change for your order.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

40. Somehow they always think they won't be the peasants

[Thomas Hurt]

42. IMO, that is why they vote GOP. They think they will be rich soon, just like the Pig...

just as soon as their latest scheme or grift comes through. They don't want to have to pay taxes once they are nouveau riche.

[nightwing1240]

3. The "good old days" were not good to everyone

But way too many people will not acknowledge that fact. I still find it very sad that school systems do not teach students about the women's movement or civil rights movement and all the ugliness those ensued. A lot can be gained by educating our young as to what was horribly wrong in our past and it is time to fix that the sooner the better.

[TheBlackAdder]

24. They want child indoctrination and they want the pursestrings to 3/4ths of local taxes.

[Elessar Zappa]

33. Most schools teach about the the various civil rights movements.

If they don’t then they’re a shitty school.

[magicarpet]

4. They want education to be wrapped in the same Ozzie + Harriet patina.

Much as was done on 50s and 60s television. Whitewash the message and exonerate the nasty actions of the White supremacists.

If the Fascists take over the school boards they can engineer the propaganda dished out to the children - there by ignoring the hated and racism that is deeply embedded in our society.

[doc03]

5. They want to groom kids to be good little Nazis nt

[BOSSHOG]

10. Catholics are outstanding at grooming kids

You must go to church at least once a week or burn in hell for eternity and you must bring as much money as possible to the church. And you have to do this the rest of your life. And ensure your children follow your lead. And you must strive to provide alternate education to public schools. The essence of Catholicism.

[old as dirt]

27. "The essence of Catholicism."

My wife comes from a Catholic culture.

She hasn't mentioned any of those.

(Closed captioned in the language of your choice.)

Las Guerillas del Patía

[Elessar Zappa]

35. It's not Catholic schools you should worry about.

Many Catholic schools provide a good education and teach actual science and history. It’s the little evangelical schools that you should criticize. They don’t teach real history or science at all.

[SarahAnonymous]

7. I live in an area with this issue

From the way things are presented to voters:

The anti CRT (anti long list of things) thing was pretty hot for awhile, but the biggest long standing issue seems to be sex. Anti LGBTQ stuff because they're groomers, and anti sex ed because reasons. Also flags in general, and prayer, are on the main docket. The claim of caring about actual educational content or curriculum, things like race, or gender, or equity, or barriers to education/access, pretty much went away as soon as the angry RW managed to get elected.

Its just about a subset of parents feeling like they must have absolute power, educators and kids have no say.

[BOSSHOG]

12. Welcome Aboard Sarah

You are right about the sex issue. Conservatives are much better at lashing out then are at understanding. They are all about freedom. Their freedom. And they haven’t figured out that people not like them are free in this country, and by gawd despite their ignorant bull crap it will remain that way.

Have an outstanding New Year.

[Mad_Machine76]

17. Their idea of "Freedom"

Is ultimately the power to control others.

[TheFarseer]

8. This was stirred up by

A bunch of disingenuous assholes. Their real agenda is to get people to hate public schools so they will be shut down or defunded, depending on exactly how optimistic they are. If this fails, they at least might succeed in mandating that kids be taught Democrats are a bunch of whiny assholes, Republicans are great and taxes are too high.

[Raine]

9. Nothing new, conservatives have concentrated on local governing

for a long time. It's actually is smart of them to build from the bottom up. Lots of people don't bother voting in school board, city council or mayer elections.

[Dr. Strange]

14. Right?

I don't know why people think this is new.

[Solomon]

19. I was about to say. "Education" has always been whitewashed. What you think you know is bullshit too

[treestar]

29. +1

A major weakness of the left is to ignore the lower levels. That's where the real power is. State legislatures are republican dominated because the Republicans work on that. The left thinks that if the President just uses the bully pulpit, everyone will fall in line from the top down. It does not work. Rather than realize this, they claim they are disappointed in Obama, for example. If only Bernie could be President. He would use that bully pulpit. That's what FDR did. Or threaten people, like LBJ, as they claim.

[Solomon]

41. Yep. So true.

[Ms. Toad]

34. This has been part of their strategy to create polls of candidates

With a history of haven't won political offices for at least two decades.

Democrats have mostly ignored this strategy to build our candidate b pool.

More recently, to they have used their position in school board to advance policy matters. But that's not how it started.

[Ocelot II]

22. WTF is this?

[Solomon]

23. Aw shoot. I missed it. What did it say?

[Ocelot II]

28. Something that seemed to be a quote from a book, source not cited,

involving sexual talk and explicit touching between children, with the question whether you'd want your second-grader reading it in their school library. Seemed to be intentionally provocative, especially since there was no source indicating it was from a real book - or did the poster just make it up?

[Hekate]

15. Easy pickings, that's why, & you get a foot on the ladder of local & state politics...

Plus while you’re there you get to influence the minds of innocent children.

Pay heed, Democrats. Attend school board meetings and get to know what’s going on. Run for school boards. Do your best. Work to get other Dems elected.

The MAGA-Republicans are not nearly as stupid as they look — especially not the ones pulling the strings. This strategy is as serious as a heart-attack.

[Hekate]

16. 20 years ago a friend of mine ran for the local school board & won. Her opponent was a stealth...

…candidate from the Eagle Forum. There is nothing new here.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. Republicans' war on education is the most crucial part of their push for fascism

https://www.salon.com/2021/12/02/republicans-on-education-is-the-most-crucial-part-of-their-push-for-fascism/

[Tickle]

20. Definite uptick in the last couple

of years. VA and FL seem to be leading the way.

[msfiddlestix]

21. taking over school boards is not a new game plan... it's been going on for years as an entry to

higher offices for future elections.

it's been going for decades, it's the basic ground game for building party infrastructure...

Howard Dean opened my eyes to that during the dumbya era.

that's why it's important for Dems to get in on the game early in life, from dog catcher to school boards, county supes etc... up from there. and do it in mass numbers across the landscape including fly overs.

[dembotoz]

26. build and train your grass roots

building a bunch who have run for office, and with party support in lower levels, had success.
done doors, raised money, made connections, create a farm system of candidates who have had experience.

constant exposure of maga ideology to the masses who think it must be ok because they trust the schools

we are missing out

[Sin]

30. They know how effective the Lost Cause rhetoric was.

The daughters of the confederacy controlled what was taught in Southern schools in some cases up until the mid 1970s. The books were published in the south and they that portrayed the confederates in a noble light and slavery as loved by the slaves as well. They were the only books approved for teaching. So you get multiple generations of kids thinking that they were fighting a evil government to protect their way of life and the people they enslaved were cool with it.
With the advent of the internet this makes it more difficult but as evident by the firing of that School librarian last year that shared a free QR code link to the banned books from the NY library. Because of rules made and adopted by the school boards they are trying to at least recreate the Lost Cause.
Now with some perverted view of how America got to were it was and who should love and be allowed to live how they want to live, along with the added bonus of racism and whitewashing. They might not get all the kids but they will get some of them not to think about it and then they have a vessel to fill with what ever bullshit they toss at them. With small rural communities full of backward bigots what to you think is going to fill that void.

[TomSlick]

39. What you teach young children stays with them for life.

My MIL, a college-educated woman, went to grade school in the south. She cannot be convinced that slavery had anything to do with the civil war.

I showed her the Arkansas secession resolution which makes it clear that slavery was THE reason for secession. She remained unmoved. That was not what she was taught as a young girl, so it cannot be true.

[Hotler]

31. Christian dominionist trying to force their version of the Old Testement down our throats.

America's Taliban. They think they have a divine right to rule this country and anyone that doesn't toe the line (per Bill Barr) is the enemy.

[leftyladyfrommo]

32. I think they just want to control future kids in a whole

bunch of ways.

It won't work. Kids are always rebellious.

[Chainfire]

36. Republicans into School Boards is equal to Hitler's support for the Hitler Youth.

Capture those minds early and they will do anything that you tell them to.