John Merrow warns us that the extremists are upping the pressure to undermine public schools and their teachers. Attend local school board meetings. Run for the local school board. Stand up and be counted.
Perhaps you have been giving thanks that the predicted ‘Red Wave’ did not materialize in November’s midterm elections, but the danger isn’t over. Former President Trump has called for suspending the US Constitution, and most Republicans have refused to condemn his outrageous statement. White nationalists, racists, anti-semites, LGBTQ-haters, and the political opportunists and media whores who enable them are still out in force, working as hard as ever to destabilize our nation.
Because of my belief in the importance of public schools, I’m calling out the right-wing political activists who are working to destroy public education– and keep children from reading, thinking, and questioning. More people need to step up and defend public schools, because classrooms are becoming ‘unsafe spaces’ for exploration of anything that’s remotely controversial. That’s the polar opposite of education….and a genuine threat to our democracy.
At the top of my list is “Moms for Liberty” and its co-founder Tiffany Justice. This group is leading an effort to take over school boards in order to restrict the curriculum and fire supposedly ‘woke’ administrators. She told former Trump consigliere Steve Bannon, “We’re going to take over the school boards, but that’s not enough. Once we replace the school boards, what we need to do is we need to have search firms, that are conservative search firms, that help us to find new educational leaders, because parents are going to get in there and they’re going to want to fire everyone.”
In October The New Yorker profiled the organization, a piece well worth your attention.
Blogger Peter Greene, a former high school teacher, cataloged the right-wing campaigns of Moms for Liberty, the 1776 Project, and Patriot Mobile recently in Forbes Magazine. Below is Greene’s description of some of their victories, and the consequences.
Right-wingers took over the “Miami-Dade School Board, where a resolution to recognize LGBTQ History Month (which the district had done just last year) drew a crowd of opponents, including Moms for Liberty, the Christian Family Coalition, and the Proud Boys. The new majority on the board squashed the motion……In Colorado, a superintendent resigned after board members campaigned against his policy priorities. In Florida’s beleaguered Broward County district, a new majority appointed by Governor DeSantis passed a surprise motion to fire the current superintendent…..and in Berkeley County (SC), the new majority, on the same night they were sworn in, fired the superintendent, fired the district legal counsel, cut property taxes, banned “critical race theory,” and set up a committee to begin reviewing and removing books deemed inappropriate. Deon Jackson had served as Berkeley County’s first Black superintendent for just over a year, after long-time employment in the district in other capacities. The board offered no explanation for their action, telling the press only, ‘We expect to be able to share our rationale in the future.’”
Please open the link and keep reading.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I find it quite comical that radicals like yourself are now calling traditional conservatives “extremists”. I mean one could have predicted this day would come (many have) but it really is disturbing to see such degeneration in our culture and the reaction to preserve being perverted into such a disingenuous message.
71% percent of people in the U.S. support gay marriage so acceptance of the LGTBQ community can no longer be called radical. Many of my friends and family are part of that community, they some of the finest people I have ever know, and I find your comment that acceptance of them is “degeneration” deeply offensive.
Just to clarify, my comment was simply pointing out the traditional conservative position on these types of school related issuers formally was not considered extreme. That said I acknowledge that radicals such as yourself have made a disturbing shift in your stance to juxtapose what traditionally was deemed level headed and reasonable to now being “extreme”. So I guess in the end it all just depends on which side of history you want to be on, but the reality is mainstream conservative sociopolitical talking points aren’t any more extreme than your views and traditionally were not considered extreme in the slightest.
These outbursts have been going on for decades (at least the five I’ve been at this). Books, sex education, book protests (remember when Go Ask Alice came out), “school to work”, “outcomes based education” and all the way to North Carolina bathroom laws and beyond.
What’s different?
1) social media
2) a lot of people are really just really p***ed off.
Particularly folks who were marginalized, segregated, and closeted got attention, acceptance, and federal rights protection all the way to the Supreme Court.
3) reality tv (seriously)
4) a national cheerleader who wines and dines with that ilk and is a rock star at hate rallies
5) the playbook! Take hot button issues and spread them out to small local communities and get people to local public meetings with placards and outrage – that gets headlines in every small paper in the country
5) this is a national wave of hate
Slavery and segregation used to be considered “traditional” positions in the US. Just because a position used to be the norm doesn’t mean that it was morally correct.
Sure, but since you failed to adduce any evidence to support your claim (Diane Ravitch a radical? I don’t think so), your comment is a matter of opinion rather than fact. Perhaps you should learn something about political science before saying things like you have here. Otherwise, this is nothing but noise.
Yes, this is simply my observation. Noisy as it may be, the change is radical leftist ideology masquerading as progress, so what used to be un-extreme is now extreme by your new standards.
Lobotomies used to have the scientific and medical consensus to treat (largely) women for mental health conditions in the 1940s and 50s but that doesn’t mean it was morally correct either. Why assume marxist and leftist ideology is the “moral” way of the future?
Huh? What on earth are you talking about?
Mr. Johnson,
I am not a Marxist or a radical. I voted for Joe Biden and will vote for the Democratic Party candidate in 2024. I think the GOP has become a party of racists and nuts. The GOP is the party of sedition.
acjohnson1985 points out how before the scientific community got woke, the conservative white men who claimed their views were based on science did horrible things:
“Lobotomies used to have the scientific and medical consensus to treat (largely) women for mental health conditions in the 1940s and 50s but that doesn’t mean it was morally correct either.”
acjohnson1985 is correct that the conservatives were just as wrong about lobotomies as they are about so many things now.
Conservatives were fighting to KEEP lobotomies, while the “radical left” was fighting to make changes by following science, instead of following those unscientific practices that conservatives claimed were science.
Please site your source on proving it was conservatives perpetuating the long term use of lobotomies as treatment for mental health disorders in women. If I were to guess it was the pharmaceutical industry as a whole that was benefiting financially from the lobotomy procedures that were perpetuating this nightmare and profiting as well. Nothing to do with the conservative populist.
@dianeravitch saying things like “The GOP is the party of sedition” is proof that you are parroting main stream media talking points and are a willing participant in the marxist government overthrow that is currently being attempted (but will likely fail). Terms such as DEI, equity (replacing the word equality) and white privilege are evidence that our culture is falling to a radicalized ideology that is rooted in Critical Theory and has the intent to replace objective morality with some semblance of morality but in a subjective and fundamentally evil way. There is good and evil, generally things of this world are tainted by evil and we should look critically at these ideals to help determine if they are actually loving or if we are just experiencing some sort of bait-and-switch tactic pulling the vale over society and hoping we don’t see clearly afterwards… That said of course the GOP isn’t perfect, and I’m really not trying to say one party is better than the other, but in my view traditional conservative values rooted in the Bible’s objective morality is more honest and loving than anything that post modern American liberal thinkers are capable of coming up with these days… Social justice for example is an eye-for-an-eye approach to solving political problems but that will only create more suffering as it is not rooted in (agape) love.
As the inimitable Ned Flanders once said, I like the cut of your gibberish, mister!
What is a traditional conservative? Answers (all opinions) may vary but here is my opinion:
“In domestic affairs, President Eisenhower supported a policy of ‘modern Republicanism’ that occupied a middle ground between liberal Democrats and the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Eisenhower continued New Deal programs, expanded Social Security, and prioritized a balanced budget over tax cuts.”
What President Eisenhower supported is what I think tradintal conservatism should be.
And anyone that voted for Traitor Trump and still supports him is not an Eisenhower Repulibican. They are toxic MAGA RINOs. I do not think those voters should ever be called traditional conservatives. They are theofascists, anarchists, libertarians, worship wealth and corporations, are racists, and a lot more but not traditional conservatives
My estimate is that about 15% of registered republicans are traditionally conservative. The rest are MAGA RINOs; their views are so extreme, they don’t fit on the political spectrum: liberal, progressive, moderate, conservative.
A traditional conservative is typically Christian in America and does not believe in redefining words such as marriage and sex and in accordance with this article supports parental rights in schools, age-appropriateness when it comes to sexual content, etc.
I certainly do not worship wealth and corporations but I did vote for Trump and would again primarily for his pro-life support and anti woke beliefs. Can you give an example of an extreme view that a “MAGA RINO” (your words not mine) would typically have?
An excellent reply by Lloyd.
acjohnson1985 said he voted for Trump and would vote for him again!
Case closed, we have a concern troll here, not even worth addressing. And of course the guy who screams radicals at us will accuse me of an ad hominem attack.
I would never judge someone in their totality just because of their vote for POTUS. It’s not like we get a lot of great options in this popularity contest. This is superficial of you and shows how shallow your cultish tribe of beliefs is. But you do you @Jersey Joe.
“A traditional conservative is typically Christian…” You can stop right there. If that’s the definition of conservatism, the Republican Party is compartmentalized and doomed to shrink into obscurity and dissolve.
@LeftCoastTeacher that’s fair, but also that is a hyper partisan view of yours that doesn’t necessarily align with the populist majority in this country.
The “populist majority” keeps losing elections. Not a majority, a shrinking minority. And not populist either.Just afraid of the bogeyman.
And by the way, I have absolutely no desire to be bipartisan. When you call my views partisan or even radical, I take it as a compliment. So thank you for that.
I appreciate you pointing that out @LeftCoastTeacher regarding your desire to stay radical. And this is where the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in, it puts agape love over politics and division. This message will be much more tolerable to the silent majority and your radical views will fade into the fads of the past. and yes Jesus has already won the spiritual battle in so we have nothing to fear in the face of the evil indoctrinated world.
Okey dokey! I’m Jewish, by the way.
@LeftCoastTeacher Messianic Jew perhaps? All kidding aside it’s good to see we both believe in the same creator and giver of life!
Sorry, but no, we do not believe in the same god. I believe in obeying laws. There is no law of the 613 in the Torah that says I have to believe in anything. It just says I can’t believe in your god: “You shall not recognize the gods of others.” It says I have to obey laws — like that one, the Second one. So, I don’t eat bacon, I don’t grade papers on Saturday, and I don’t get naked with my family. On the other hand, I don’t sacrifice lambs or calves, but to the best of my ability — including the ability to interpret how ancient laws apply today — I obey laws.
We are free to believe in different gods in this country. It doesn’t bother me that your god is different than mine, and it shouldn’t bother you. It’s important to me that your country is the same as mine and that we both believe in our country. It is important to me that we both believe in our country’s laws. Those laws are predicated on the idea that all citizens have equal status under the sun; even if they eat pork; no matter whether, how, or with whom they like to hold hands, kiss, and maybe dance under the sheets a bit; and if they are cognizant of and free-spoken about our 400-year murderous history of racial and economic oppression and willing to stand for a new day of justice and peace.
I do not share your religious views, and I do not have conservative views. I have progressive views. I believe it is possible for our country to progress with democracy, to evolve for the betterment of all including those who do not take the same religion as I. I believe in evolution, you see.
Thank you for the conversation. I enjoyed writing this reply.
Almost forgot to answer your question. Definitely not a Messianic Jew.
I am with you 100%. I am a retired S. C. high school teacher, though I live in Loudoun County, VA now. Keeping public schools intact, unadulterated, free and open to thought is the number one political issue of our times, in my mind. I feel like if we can do this, other issues……the climate, gun control, human rights, foreign policy……will be addressed appropriately because our students will have the tools they need to emerge as an educated citizenry, capable of preserving our great democracy, and our position as world leaders. The right is trying to cripple the wonderfully great minds our kids possess!
The position Mr. Johnson expounds demonstrates how far to the right the Overton window has shifted.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5962395/
Glad you are able to learn something new here today 🙂
sigh As a teacher, I have not been able to relax fully for … I have no idea how long.
It’s exhausting.
My exact thought, Dana. I would say Ed Reform has instilled a sense of PTSD…except that you can’t have a post-traumatic feeling when the event has not yet ended. Let’s hang in there together! May you have a wonderful and relaxing winter break, hopefully with friends and family.
So I guess it’s just TSD, then. 😉
Oh, believe me, it’s possible to have PTSD and because you are still in public education, it gets worse. Public education is a battle ground.
The VA (Veterans Administration) rates the combat related PTSD of vets from 10% to 100% and I know that being rated 100% doesn’t mean they are all the same. Some vets with a 100% PTSD rating are much worse than others. Some are still functional and manage to control themselves, while others are a clear and present danger to themselves and everyone around them. And over time, a combat vet can be rated below a 100% and the over time, have that rating changed higher until they reach 100%.
PTSD damages the brain and that damage is permanent and often gets worse as we age.
Before I taught for thirty years in the public schools, I was a US Marine who was sent to Vietnam in 1966, and I returned home with PSD, and at my current age if I was told that I had to get a job again, I’d rather go back to real combat than the toxic stress I experienced for three decades teaching. At least in combat, we are trained for combat, armed, and can shoot back.
I honestly don’t know how you do it.
As far as how I do it? I’d heard about N.K. Jemisin’s short story “The Ones Who Stay and Fight” a few months ago and had been meaning to read it. I woke up early this morning from a nightmare about how I would protect my students if we had an armed intruder. Not wanting to wake my family, I got dressed quietly and spent some time reading. And I cried. It’s so, SO relevant.
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-ones-who-stay-and-fight/
All these so-called parent groups are backed by billionaires that are weaponizing their wealth against democracy, and many of the “outraged” are paid operatives whose mission is to cause chaos and dissention. Authentic stakeholders must actively defend their public schools because a public institution can do very little to defend itself. There is no advertising budget or marketing team that can promote them. Support for public education must come from the communities they serve and from those that value their local public schools and their democratic mission.
Amazingly the faux populists see no contradiction in being led around by the ring through their nose by billionaire reactionary oligarchs.
One good thing that came out of the recent Twitter takeover is that the shine is wearing off Elon’s con artistry.
People are starting to see him for what he actually is: a salesman who has misrepresented his products and the value of his companies.
Even people who used to be died in the wool fanboys are starting to say the Emperor has no clothes.
And he is being sued by Tesla customers
who say he defrauded them when he claimed (every year for the last several years) that Teslas will be fully self driving “next” year.
Of course, next year comes and Teslas are still not even close to being fully self driving. In fact, many people think they are actually getting worse, not better.
Tesla has lost over half its stock value in the last couple years and Soon has also dropped out of the wealthiest person sot.
Musk is unloading his Tesla stock like there is no tomorrow.
People!e believe it’s to pay for Twitter but there is another possibility: Musk knows the bottom is about to fall out on Tesla and he wants to get out while the getting is good. To cash in his chips before he loses
his shirt.
If I owned Tesla stock I would take this as a sign to sell.
Tesla was grossly overvalued. Still is.
Their so called “full self driving” software looks more like crap with each passing week and Teslas have a very poor reliability rating.d is to manufacturing “issues”.
By a 3 to 2 vote, newly formed board bans Critical Race Theory In Temecula Schools
The campaigns of all three board members were backed by the Inland Empire Family PAC, which works “to stop the indoctrination of our children by placing candidates on school boards who will fight for Christian and conservative values.”
https://patch.com/california/temecula/critical-race-theory-banned-temecula-schools-newly-formed-board