When it comes to election coverage, local school board races don’t typically get the same kind of love as more high-profile contests. School boards haven’t traditionally been seen as partisan. But as conservatives ramp up their attempts to ban books and control classroom content, these races to decide who makes decisions about curriculum, policies and procedures have become more important than ever. And this week’s election results should serve as a warning that parents and voters are rejecting all that meddling.
According to The American Federation of Teachers, candidates endorsed by conservative groups like Moms for Liberty lost about 70 percent of their races in elections across the country this week.
The results are most telling in swing states like Virginia, where in Spotsylvania County, a far-suburban area of D.C., all four candidates endorsed by Republicans lost to more liberal-leaning candidates. Voters in that county overwhelmingly rejected the actions of a conservative school board. Kirk Twigg, a board member who suggested the 13 books removed from library shelves by the school superintendent, including Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” be burned, lost his race for reelection by almost 25 points.
The harder conservatives push, the more voters and parents push back, including Tamara Quick, a mother of five who lives in the county, told the AP that she intended to leave the county if the conservatives maintained control of the school board.
“I think parents are tired of talking about bathrooms, books bans and flags and pronouns,” Julie Marsh, an education policy professor at the University of Southern California told NBC News.
Randi Weingarten, President of the Teachers Union, agrees, telling the Associated Press on Wednesday, “[Voters} don’t want to engage in this banning of books or censoring of honest history or undermining who kids are.”