News Stories
We’ve collected dozens of articles to document both the extremist effort to undermine public schools
and the efforts of citizens to defend public education.
(Click on the headlines to go to the original articles.)
Standing Up for Public Education
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Orange Unified board members who embraced culture wars are ousted, by Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2024.
How the far right took over a Pennsylvania school board—and how parents took it back, by Kathryn Joyce, Vanity Fair in conjunction with the Hechinger Project, February 5, 2024.
Students reported her for teaching a lesson on race. Then she taught it again, by Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, February 1, 2024 -
We defeated ‘Moms for Liberty’ in our small Ohio community. Here’s How, by Judy Kettler, CNN Opinion, November 16, 2023.
Youngkin’s disastrous night shows the right’s culture war has fizzled, by Greg Sargent, The Washington Post, November 8, 2023.
Beware: Stealth candidates are everywhere, by David Pepper, Pepperspectives, October 11, 2023
Moms for Liberty meet their match: parents in this swing suburban district are fighting back, by Amanda Marcotte, Salon, October 10, 2023
Progressives are defeating conservatives in school board elections--even in Ohio, by David Pepper, The Washington Monthly, August 9, 2023
Liberals try to reclaim 'parents’ rights' from conservatives, by Laura Meckler, Hannah Natanson, and John D. Harden, The Washington Post, June 28, 2023
In a deep red Florida county, a student-teacher revolt shames the right, by Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman, The Washington Post, June 1, 2023
The Revolt of the Other Mothers: Moms for Liberty learned motherhood is a potent force. So too have their opponents, by Sarah Jones, New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer, May 23, 2023
The Republican plan to take over school boards may be backfiring, by Nicole Narea, Vox, May 17, 2023
Rightwing extremists defeated by Democrats in US school board elections, by Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian, April 21, 2023
Pro-Public Education School Board Candidates Win Across NH (Again), press release from Granite State Progress
Ex-congressman's next campaign will be fighting culture wars in public schools, by Jonathan D. Salant and Tina Kelley, NJ.com, March 2, 2023 -
Progressives must not concede school board elections to the right: Austin school board victories show how progressive organizing can beat anti-LGBT candidates, by Tanya Jogee, Truthout, December 29, 2022
Get ready to fight for our public schools, by state senator Claire Celsi, Des Moines Register, December 21, 2022
Idaho's far right suffers loss to 18-year-old climate activist, by Robert Mackey, The Intercept, September 13, 2022
The ACLU's fight against classroom censorship state by state, by Asher Lehrer-Small, The 74, September 10, 2022
Tennessee Showdown: Governor's big plan for right-wing charter schools sparks fierce backlash, by Kathryn Joyce, Salon, August 22, 2022
The GOP's takeover strategy is falling flat, Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, The Hill, July 27, 2022
One small step for democracy in a live free or die town, Dan Berry, New York Times, July 10, 2022
School board candidates who criticized the hiring of DEI educator lose their races, by Nicolle Carr, ProPublica, June 29, 2022
Extremists are using lies to undermine America's public schools: We need to take a stand, Randi Weingarten and Jonah Edelman, Time, April 29, 2022
Progressive candidates win despite passionate campaigns on the right, Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin, March 10, 2022
Sarasota County elections: Voters approve renewal of school district millage referendum, by Samantha Gholar, Sarasota Herald Tribune, March 8, 2022
Photo by Arnaud Jaegers on Unsplash
Extremist Efforts to Harm Public Schools
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She couldn't wait to work for Ryan Walters' administration. Now she worries public schools won't survive the rest of his term, by Spencer Humphrey, KFOR, April 12, 2024.
America is under attack: Inside the anti-DEI Crusade, by Nick Confessore, New York Times, January 20, 2024.
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Christian homeschooler who made 'parental rights' a rallying cry, by Emma Brown and Peter Jamison, The Washington Post, August 29, 2023. Key quote: “Our goal is to take down the education system as we know it today.”
Onward Christian soldiers: A Woodland Park investigation, by Trevor Logan, Colorado Times Recorder, August 24, 2023
Conservative group backs 150 school board candidates who oppose 'woke' ideology in classrooms, by Ryan Foley, Christian Post, August 22, 2023
Moms For Liberty flexes its muscles — and faces pushback, by Laura Pappano, Hechinger Report, July 5, 2023
How Conservatives Transformed a Colorado School District, by Tyler Kinkade, NBC News, May 9, 2023
A far-right mom's group is terrorizing schools in the name of protecting kids, by David Gilbert, Vice, April 23, 2023
How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives, The New York Times, April 17, 2023
Ron DiSantis’s book ban mania targets Jodi Picoult—and she hits back, by Greg Sargent, The Washington Post and Paul Waldman, March 10, 2023.
Inside the “Private and Confidential” Conservative Group that Promises to “Crush Liberal Dominance” by Andy Kroll and Andrea Bernstein, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey, Documented, March 9, 2023.
Outside conservative groups back candidates as school board races become ideological battlegrounds, by Char Daston and Mary Qin, WBEZ Chicago, March 9, 2023
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution, by Josh Legum, Popular Information, January 23, 2023Merchants of Deception: Parent props and their funders, by Maurice Cunningham, February, 2023.
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Right-wing school board members are making their presence felt, by Peter Greene, Forbes, November 17, 2022
Conservative advocates vow continued push for school board seats despite middling midterms , by Libby Stanford, Education Week, November 16, 2022
The right-wing mothers fueling the school board wars, by Paige Williams, The New Yorker, October 31, 2022.
How Moms for Liberty wants to reshape education this school year and beyond, by Ariel Gilreath, Hechinger Report, September 29, 2022.
Conservative 'takeover' of North Texas Schools start of a new playbook to expand GOP power?, by Talia Richman and Meghan Mangrum, Dallas Morning News, September 19, 2022
How a far-right, Christian cellphone company ‘took over’ four Texas school boards, by Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News, August 25, 2022
School board races emerge as GOP election focus, by Emily Hoeven, Cal Matters, August 18, 2022
The right is working to destroy public schools, Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 27, 2022
How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state's far-right shift, by Casey Tolan, Matthew Reynard, Will Simon and Ed Lavandera, CNN, July 24, 2022
Stuck on the Rufo road, by Jennifer Berkshire, The Forum School Wars, July 18, 2022
Power in Chaos: Steve Bannon is disrupting democracy. Here’s how. By Rob Kuznia, Bob Ortega and Audrey Ash, CNN, July 18, 2022
Moms for Liberty’s conservative activists are planning their next move: Taking over school boards , by Tyler Kingkaide, July 17, 2022
With rising book bans, librarians Have Come Under Attack, by Elizabeth Harris, and Alexandra Alter, New York Times, July 6, 2022
Republicans Turn School Elections into New Political Battlegrounds, by Andrew Atterbury, Politico, June 27, 2022
The Battle Over Teaching Critical Race Theory, Fresh Air, National Public Radio, June 24, 2022 (audio)
White parents rallied to chase a Black educator out of town. Then, they followed her to the next one. Nicolle Carr, Pro Publica, June 16 , 2022
Across the country, educational equity was in vogue. Then it wasn’t. By Laura Meckler, Washington Post, June 8, 2022
Christopher Rufo fuels the right’s cultural fires in Florida, Trip Gabriel, New York Times, April 24, 2022
Disrupt, Deplete, Destroy , by Christopher Collins, Texas Observer , March 21, 2022
Why school choice is suddenly roiling the Republican Party, Lauren Camera, U.S. News and World Report, March 7, 2022
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash