Conservative parents can effectively change the state of education ,
. . . but not how you might think .
Is Running for School Boards a Waste of Time ?
By Steve Baldwin
Many more parents are waking up to the abject failure of the American public school system and are becoming desperate to take action to protect their children . The threats to their children ’ s well-being include vaccination mandates , dangerous ideologies , a failure to teach students basic writing and math skills , an obscene and unsafe sex education curriculum , allowing trans boys to use girls ’ bathrooms , and the list keeps growing . Some are calling this the “ Mama Bear Revolution .” Bravo , Momma Bears !
Understandably , parents around the country are storming school board meetings and demanding change . Many have announced they will run for school boards , and dozens of local and national education reform groups are urging them to do so . But is this the right strategy ?
Since it appears the current threat is coming from elected school boards , the natural reaction is to take the battle to those boards . However , the left has dominated the vast majority of school boards for decades , and a lot has changed since then . Based on my forty years working in the vineyards of the conservative movement and focusing heavily on education issues and school board races , I must tell you that I believe this fight is not worth it . It will exhaust us and accomplish little , and there are better strategies to protect our children and give them a good education .
I have spent years fighting the left on education issues . As a member of the California State Assembly , I chaired the Education Committee and witnessed first-hand how the left has transformed our public schools . They no longer exist to create productive citizens ; they now exist to create social justice warriors committed to transforming America into a socialist society . From teacher unions to administrators , the entire education bureaucracy is committed to excluding parents from decision-making as they think they know what is best for the children . They are not concerned with what parents think . Winning a few school board seats will not change that reality one iota . I have been down this road , and I know how it ends .
34 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW