Parents around the country have awakened to the fact that the far Left, largely via the teachers’ unions, is running our public schools. And they don’t like it. The Virginia governor’s race is the marquee contest this year, but the same issues–Critical Race Theory and whose schools are they, anyway?–are in play in school board races across the country.
In many areas, interest in school board elections is at an unprecedented high. In my state, a school board election in an odd-numbered year would historically draw turnout in the single digits, with few voters other than members of the education cartel having any idea who the candidates are. This year is different. We got texts this morning from our Senate District GOP, identifying the three candidates to vote for and urging us to tell our friends.
My wife and I voted at 8:00 this morning; she was voter #65 in our precinct. There was nothing on the ballot except the school board, for which there were sixteen candidates with no identification of incumbents. It is a nonpartisan race, so there was no party identification, either. Who knows, the three conservative rebels might have a shot.
Anti-CRT, pro-parent candidates will win races here and there this year, but my guess is that conservatives didn’t get organized in time to actually win a lot of seats. This year we are seeing tremors; next year, with a full 12 months to get organized and raise money, we will see the earthquake.
In the Virginia race, Terry McAuliffe inflamed opposition by saying that parents should stay out of the schools and let teachers and administrators run them. Subsequently he doubled down, saying the same thing again, rather than backing off. McAuliffe isn’t a very good politician, and many people considered these comments merely to be gaffes.
Actually, though, McAuliffe said what Democrats think. American Experiment polled this in Minnesota, asking, whom do you trust to decide what is taught in the public schools, parents, or teachers and principals? Overall, 42% said they trust parents, while 36% said they trust teachers and principals. But the partisan division was stark. Republicans say they trust parents over educators by 69% to 31%. Democrats, on the other hand, don’t think much of parents. They trust teachers and principals over parents by 54% to 18%.
This discrepancy reflects a major fault line in our society. You can see how sharp the division is in the cross tabs to our poll. Of those who favor teaching Critical Race Theory in the schools, only 9% want parents in charge of the schools. They know that they are subverting our families and our country, and that what they are doing is not popular. Conversely, of those who oppose teaching CRT in the schools, 81% want parents in charge, while only 9% prefer teachers and principals.
We have seen similar poll results in other states. In Virginia, 70% of Democrats said they want school boards to have more influence on curricula than parents.
The Left has declared war on America’s families. The public schools are an important battleground in that war. These issues–Should we be teaching racism and anti-Americanism in the schools? And who, ultimately, is in charge of educating our children?–are winners for conservatives and Republicans.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.