PARENTS: You Have The Power

Parents across the country are worried about what their children are being taught in school, with subject matters such as critical race theory, the transgender agenda, and revisionist history being forced on them, not to mention the sexualizing of children that is taking place. Parents are also very concerned about their children being made to wear masks for upwards of seven hours a day, and battling school boards to remove the mandate. In fact, just do a quick search on the internet and witness how many parents are suing school boards across the country right now. Bring the fire!

Fortunately, your voice is being heard on many of these agendas being pushed on children in school, and some states are taking action through legislation. Arkansas was the first state to pass a bill banning transgender hormone therapy and surgery in children under 18, and numerous other states have bills in the works, so get louder. Idaho and Oklahoma are trying to pass bills banning critical race theory training. Hopefully, other states follow suit. America First Legal, launched by former senior Trump officials, is pursuing a lawsuit against Critical Race Theory.

Your voice is being heard, so keep the pressure on, keep the momentum rolling, and take it directly to the school boards!

Below is helpful information about school boards from Corey’s mom, who spent years being involved in the school district on many levels, volunteering for field trips, fighting bills at the state level, and ran two campaigns for board members… all while having to raise a couple of rebels. She even took charge of the laborious task of assigning lockers to over 2,000 students, so Corey of course, made sure herself and friends had an entire hallway by the best exit.

Most state school districts have a Board of Education. Generally a board is made up of five to nine elected members. It is usually a four-year term.

The board has many responsibilities but I want to address the following:

• They hire and evaluate a Superintendent
• They approve textbooks and other curriculum materials

When parents have a disagreement about what is being taught in their children’s school, they usually start by talking to the teacher/teachers. If they are not satisfied, they move on to the principal. If all else fails, and it will, they approach the superintendent. The average tenure of a superintendent is six years. The board is the overseer of the superintendent. It is the board you need to express your concerns with. The board has the power to make changes.

What can you do to make your concerns known? Start by attending a few board meetings and introduce yourself to some members and you may be able to voice your concerns at that time. In addition, you can call, email, and fax them with your concerns, but make sure you are concise. Have your friends and other concerned parents do the same.

You can request to be added to a school board meeting agenda to address your issues. In most cases you would contact the board president or the superintendent prior to the agenda setting meeting. If they are receptive, be concise as to the subject matter. If you are put on an agenda, bring as many people as possible to the meeting. Make sure your neighbors know what is going on in their school district, regardless of whether or not they have children. School districts are often what affects whether a family moves into an area. If your school district is teaching some of these abhorrent subjects, it can very well have a negative effect on your neighborhoods.

You may even choose to run for school board. You need to be aware that being a school board member requires a great deal of time, commitment and dedication. However, it also could be the way to succeed in getting some necessary changes made in your schools.

Qualifications to run for the school board vary by state and districts, but here are the most common ones:

• Be a resident of the district that the individual is running to represent.
• Be a registered voter.
• Not be a current employee of the district and/or be related to a current employee in that district.
• At minimum, have a high school diploma or a certificate of equivalency.
• Not be a convicted felon.

You can contact your State Board of Elections to get the necessary information on signing up to become a candidate. They can advise as to the dates of the next board elections. In addition, you can go to this site and enter your state for more information.

If the school district chooses not to make any changes, remember it is YOU who have the power. You need to remind members there seat will eventually be up for re-election and there will be many voters who will remember what they did or didn’t do regarding your issues. Contact your State Board of Elections for dates of the next elections. When the next election is coming up, this is the time you remind the board members who voted against your concerns and you and many others will not be voting for them and, in fact, you will all be campaigning against them.

Parents need to realize how important it is to vote in a school board election. Statistically, unless there is a national election, many don’t bother to vote. Remember, the board actually has your child’s education in their hands.

Even with the school year coming to a close, it’s important to plan, organize, and stay on top of this right now. Get involved and fight for your children.

Additional Suggestions:

• Use social media. Start a Facebook page. Point out what is going on in your school system. Put in any articles you find regarding the subject matter. (Corey: “Mom, you can’t tell people this! They will get censored as soon as they mention these topics, so it’s important they get really creative in how they word things.”)

• Ask your local newspaper if you could submit an editorial.

• If you have a newsletter in your neighborhood, submit an article.

• You may choose to create a fact sheet and distribute it in your area.
  
• Consider getting involved in the PTA.

YOU GOT THIS!

Many of you may be familiar with Scott Presler. He is a wonderful human being who has been traveling the country helping people register to vote, organizing clean-ups in cities, and has now set out to help elect conservatives to school boards across America as well. He doesn’t have his schedule indicated on his website just yet, but he posted this just the other day, so keep your eyes and ears open – you can learn a lot from Scott. You can find him on Twitter and Gab, and he’s always posting updates to where he’s heading next.