Who is Trying to Control Your School Board in Placer County
School boards in California are non-partisan, elected governing-bodies that oversee the public schools of each community. Overall, school boards are meant to reflect the diverse values and priorities of their communities by providing direction and support to schools, ensuring accountability, and serving as an advocate for students, the school district, and public schools. School Boards hire and evaluate the superintendent, adopt district policies, approve budgets and local control accountability plans, monitor district performance and student achievement, and actively listen to public comments.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic that caused schools across the nations close down, Republicans and individuals holding fringe views have begun to organize and focus on local races and particularly on school board races. Several groups have come out in the name of parental rights to take over school boards and make changes that fit their specific world views. These changes include fighting protective health measures and getting rid of books and curriculum that discuss issues and subjects around sexuality and race. As Democrats, it is vital that we be informed of these efforts and organize to ensure that school boards represent and protect the diverse range of view points that exist in every community and that school boards make decisions based on the best available and credible information for the benefit of all students, faculty, and our communities. Here are some of the organizations trying to exert influence on school Boards and local elections in Placer County.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic that caused schools across the nations close down, Republicans and individuals holding fringe views have begun to organize and focus on local races and particularly on school board races. Several groups have come out in the name of parental rights to take over school boards and make changes that fit their specific world views. These changes include fighting protective health measures and getting rid of books and curriculum that discuss issues and subjects around sexuality and race. As Democrats, it is vital that we be informed of these efforts and organize to ensure that school boards represent and protect the diverse range of view points that exist in every community and that school boards make decisions based on the best available and credible information for the benefit of all students, faculty, and our communities. Here are some of the organizations trying to exert influence on school Boards and local elections in Placer County.
The California Republican Party
The California Republican Party has launched their Parent Revolt program to get their candidates elected at the local level and especially to school boards
The American Council
The American Council is a Christian advocacy organization closely aligned with Destiny Church in Rocklin and organizes people of faith to engage in political advocacy. As part of their organization's values, they they are influenced by the concept that "America was founded by Christian men and women" and that people of faith should actively influence culture. According to its website, The American Council has trained and supported over 600 candidates, reached over 2.75 million people through campaigns, sent over 940,000 letters to legislators, and spent over $425,000 on advocacy efforts. The American Council's website often uses language that most people would agree with but distorts the meaning of certain concepts to pass off their views as more reasonable and acceptable. Here is The American Council's view on the separation of church and state:
This statement acknowledges the importance of separation of church and state, but then encourages the opposite, particularly since government is supposed to be a reflection of society. Here is The American Council's position on banning books in schools:
The American Council says that it does not advocate for banning books, but then urges schools to remove certain books. As of October 2022, The American Council has campaigns to remove books from Granite Bay High School, Oakmont High School, Rocklin High School, Whitney High School, and Woodcreek High School. Many booking banning efforts like these are done under the guise of wanting books in schools to be age appropriate. However, what is age appropriate is highly subjective, and these campaigns would seek to remove several books written for young adults from high schools even though many would consider them age appropriate, especially teenagers who may be interested in those stories and experiences. The American Council's campaigns in these high schools specifically target several books that have LGBTQ stories and several of the books are written by authors of color. Here are the books listed in the various campaigns:
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The American Council also has a campaign against the Disney series "Little Demon" because it has "demonic content and exposes children to terrible imagery" and includes cartoon nudity. The American Council calls it "an extremely dangerous series."
For the 2022 elections, the American Council has endorsed candidates up and down the ballot throughout California. Here are their endorsements in Placer County as of October 2022. The list involves endorses 26 school board candidates in 14 school board races in Placer County. Here are some of The American Council's endorsements in the Roseville area for 2022:
The American Council also has the Save My Nation project, which promotes a variety of policies, including the following:
If you would like to know more about the views of The American Council's founder and president, Tanner DiBella, you can read his blog HERE.
Moms for Liberty
Moms for Liberty is a non-profit organization that operates nationally and is "dedicated to fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government. Moms for Liberty has been heavily focused on education issues and advocates for what it believes are parental rights. There is an active chapter in Placer County that posts regularly on its Twitter and Instagram accounts. The Moms for Liberty Placer County Chapter has a private Facebook group with over two-thousand members. Here are the 2022 school board candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty in Placer County.
Here are some articles about Moms for Liberty and their involvement in banning books:
Moms Against Libraries: How a Discredited Psychological Theory Sparked a Book-Banning Movement
Moms for Liberty is hiding behind these front groups as they gut public school libraries
'My Books got Banned in the U.S.—Then They Came For Me'
Moms Against Libraries: How a Discredited Psychological Theory Sparked a Book-Banning Movement
Moms for Liberty is hiding behind these front groups as they gut public school libraries
'My Books got Banned in the U.S.—Then They Came For Me'
Reopen California Schools and Students First California
Reopen California Schools and Students First California are two organizations created by Roseville City School District candidate Jonathan Zachreson. Reopen California Schools advocates for "parents’ right to choose the educational environment best for their students" and supports anti-mask and anti-vax viewpoints.
Here is the description of Students First California:
While it sounds nice to be student-first, the Students First California website does not actually explain what it means to be student-first. Here is who Students First California endorses in Placer County in 2022:
If you would like to get a better sense about who about who these two groups' founder, Jonathan Zachreson, is, here is a video of him being interviewed by Matthew Oliver.