By Alyssa McMurtry
Staff Writer
Posted: October 10, 2022 7:57 AM

Contests for local school boards this November have gained statewide attention as those opposed to discourse surrounding LGBTQ issues and racism in the U.S. are seeking seats in various districts as part of a movement that seems to have morphed from anger at coronavirus restrictions.

Decisions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 were tolerated at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, however as the months went on, many parents struggled to understand why their children were still learning virtually, especially as initial studies and anecdotal evidence showed strictly virtual learning was not beneficial for students.

Months into the 2020-21 school year, some parents and many conservatives were adamantly opposed to masking and vaccination requirements in schools. These same masking requirements and online schooling were also blamed as the reason for fewer students attending public schools.

COVID-19 has since been pushed to the back burner, but there is no question that schools' decision for the health of students has sparked an anger for some and has led to questioning decisions made by school boards, particularly from Republicans. In addition to a lack of transparency, many Republicans are incensed by the notion that public schools are indoctrinating students with a "Marxist agenda" that includes critical race theory; social and emotional learning; and gender and sexual orientation ideology.

However, some who are part of this movement say it is apolitical even if conservatives might be more accepting of the message. Republicans, though, made a concerted effort to recruit school board candidates heading into the 2022 election.

While CRT is currently not taught in schools, many districts include literature that advocates for diversity and inclusion, and as far as gender ideology, educators have discussed the possibility of students coming out as members of the LGBTQ community, even if their parents are not made aware.

With the election less than 40 days away, the usually sleepy and hyper-local seat of local school board member has become a political minefield. "Parents Against Whitmer" has labeled itself a grassroots group, however it caused some speculation as to who is behind the grassroots movement when the coalition was launched by the Michigan Republican Party in June (See Gongwer Michigan Report, June 15, 2022).

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon has also made parental involvement and issues in schools, such as book banning and the so-called indoctrination of students a key part of her campaign.

Rep. Pamela Hornberger (R-Chesterfield) in a recent interview with Gongwer News Service said she personally felt it was a grassroots movement of parents and community members who have advocated for taking more of a role in their children's education.

"Now that we're two years in, a lot of people are much more organized," Ms. Hornberger said.

The focus on school boards has been seen nationwide, starting with anger at mask requirements and then turning into an uproar about books at school libraries and seeking to get some banned.

In Michigan, the increased focus can be seen at State Board of Education meetings where public comment at times has lasted for hours with individuals calling in with a seemingly coordinated message related to culture war topics.

The Legislature and Governor Gretchen Whitmer also pivoted to school districts to determine if individual districts would be open in person or virtually at the start of the 2020-21 school year. Districts were also in charge of determining mask requirements as the pandemic started to wind down.

A source with connections to local school boards speaking on background said school boards are very aware of the highly politicized candidates on the ballot this fall.

"Some members are worried about who does win and what direction they could take the district," the source said.

While school boards have been highly aware of the target on their backs since COVID-19, it seems to have only become bigger, the source stated.

Many of these candidates, the source said, are running on a single issue, such as opposing critical race theory, social and emotional learning and diversity and inclusion.

Even more concerning to the source was that many of these candidates are not fully aware of how these districts are run.

Ms. Hornberger, a former school board member, also echoed these same concerns. The former public school teacher said she felt almost hypocritical about sending her child to a private school rather than a public school, and opted instead to run for school board to see if she could implement some changes.

She called the experience "eye-opening," and said change is slow in politics no matter what level. Ms. Hornberger said because the school boards are so intertwined with the public, many on the boards are afraid to make decisions in fear they could upset at least half of the community.

"I think a lot of people, if they do get elected, and they just keep the kids, our students as their focus … I think that they'll do a good job, but I hope that they don't just go in and just start being divisive on either side," Ms. Hornberger said.

Regardless of party, Ms. Hornberger said it was important that more voices are involved.

Republicans ahead of the 2022 election made an effort to recruit candidates for school board. In an April email to supporters, the Oakland County Republican Party announced an event for interested individuals to learn what running for school board entails and what would happen if elected.

Ms. Hornberger was a part of that event along with Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford), Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) and an organization called the Huron Valley School Parents Advocates.

"Leftist extremism has ventured far too deep into our schools, and our children deserve better from their educators," the email from the Oakland GOP said. "We need more common-sense, conservative citizens on our school boards throughout the county."

Matt Wilk is the director of the Get Kids Back to School PAC, which supports candidates who "will push back the tide of erosion on the traditional curriculum," particularly candidates who push back against "wokeness."

Mr. Wilk said the candidates he is endorsing advocate for an increase in transparency, authentic parental engagement and parental choice. He mentioned how over time, teachers have been asked to take on situations that they "aren't good at," asking why there were COVID clinics in schools, saying that's not schools' purpose.

"Schools were asked to hand out free lunches all summer, free food all summer. We're acting as a food bank. Inappropriate," Mr. Wilk said. "Now you saw this last cycle, schools were asked, were pushed into demanding that their parents make medical decisions on behalf of their kids. Those are parent decisions, not school decisions."

Mr. Wilk mentioned Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," and a scene in the book depicting "graphic incest." This book and many others like it have been brought before the State Board of Education during public comment, with many saying they found the book too inappropriate for their school-aged children.

Mr. Wilk said there were parents coming in while he was serving on a local school board who voiced their opposition and their support of the novel. He said they ultimately decided to post the pages for parents to read and choose between that novel or "Fahrenheit 451."

All of the candidates endorsed by Mr. Wilk's PAC are in contested races. Mr. Wilk said some interesting feedback he has heard from his endorsed candidates when they talk with constituents and parents is that people's opinions about school operation do not align with party politics.

"There are some on the right who wouldn't agree with me and there are some on the left who would," Mr. Wilk said.

One of the areas that saw considerable angst about COVID closures was the Ann Arbor Public Schools, which remained in a virtual learning mode well into the 2020-21 school year, and a large number parents in the state's most liberal city were furious.

He said there are candidates who identify themselves as apolitical, but care about their schools. Mr. Wilk pointed to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, reading scores, saying just because a student was a B+ before and tested at a B+ now, doesn't mean there was no learning loss since the test is graded on a curve.

"There's almost more enthusiasm around fixing schools than there is in any other sort of political issue that's going on right now," Mr. Wilk said.

As to issues related to the coronavirus and schools, Mr. Wilk said he took issue with schools trying to differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated kids and most of the candidates he endorsed would disagree with this decision.

"That's not their job, they're not in the public health field," Mr. Wilk said of school administrators.

While it is not politically affiliated, Mr. Wilk said Republicans are typically more sympathetic to their message, especially parental choice and parental engagement. He said Ms. Dixon is definitely aligned with the PAC's message of parental involvement.

"The tough part for the sitting governor is that most parents know that she had the ability to make changes and she chose not to," he said. "For example, she could have eliminated virtual classes for the districts that really struggled getting back online."

Mr. Wilk expressed his disapproval of virtual classes going on past the end of the 2019-20 school year, saying the learning loss in the Detroit Public Schools Community District was massive.

Mr. Wilk also said he was taking steps to make sure his candidates understand how schools work and what they can do if they are elected to school boards. As a former school treasurer, he said many of the functions are challenging, but "slicing it up into little pieces" can make the work more manageable.

In 2020, the Northville School Board voted to remove Mr. Wilk after he posted on social media that the coronavirus was a hoax.

Still, Mr. Wilk recounted how his district was one of the first to post its check register online, saying every check per month the school district sends out is available to the public. Mr. Wilk said the board encouraged onlookers to alert the school district to a cheaper alternative if they saw something the district could save money on.

Gongwer asked Mr. Wilk about his endorsed candidates' stances opposed to critical race theory and gender identity and sexuality education, asking if this would also be key issues that could garner a Get MI Kids Back to School endorsement.

"I feel like a vast majority of my candidates feel that you have to meet children where they are and if a child presents to you gender confusion, as a school you want that kid to be educated you have to work from where they are," Mr. Wilk said. "When the school's belief for how these non-educational issues should be handled is different than what the parents think and that's where the problem is."

It's not up for the schools to say that they don't approve of how parents are raising their kids, Mr. Wilk said.

The Freedom of Information Act has also been a subject of debate for parents. Many have requested curriculum and school expenses, sharing online they have struggled with receiving the information. Mr. Wilk said FOIA should be unnecessary when it comes to curriculum and parents should have ready access to their child's reading material.

Schools counter that the curriculum is generally available online.

There is a feeling that parents have that schools are almost a bureaucracy, Mr. Wilk said.

He also said FOIA is "not a maximum, it's a minimum," and a school district can always provide more information than the FOIA requires.

Becky Olson started an organization along with other mothers called Support Forest Hills Public Schools in the 2021-22 school year when a recall attempt against five of the seven school board members began, initiated by the group Forest Hills for Just Education. She said this group tried to gain momentum in the community by advocating for more regular bus services during the bus driver shortage.

"They very quickly pivoted to this whole anti-CRT message in schools and what we started to see happening very clearly alongside the national narrative of trying to attack public schools," Ms. Olson said, saying the Michigan-based group started to follow along with what was happening in Texas and Virginia.

"To me, one of the most telling things that occurred (was) in December 2021, they were approaching the deadline for the recall petitions that they had hoped to advance, and they held a campaign signing event at a location with Ryan Kelley," Ms. Olson said. "That sort of opened the door of what was really happening here, that this was not about school bus service."

Mr. Kelley was a Republican gubernatorial candidate best known for participating in anti-COVID regulation demonstrations and participating in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Ms. Olson said it was an attempt to have a "clean slate for hyper partisan or America First" candidates who want to rebuild public education from the ground up.

She recounted that when the Forest Hills for Just Education group launched the recall attempt, the community was "horrified." It started with a private Facebook group called "Stop the Attacks," and it had more than 1,100 members in its group. In October 2021, they decided to file as a political action committee at the state level, citing former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' plan to bring tax monies to parents who send their children to private schools.

In an attempt to raise money, Ms. Olson said they sold two versions of yard signs, one saying "We love our public schools," and a few variations of car stickers. Their Facebook page also has almost 1,000 followers and is available on Instagram, where the group shares information combatting political rhetoric.

"What we tried to do all along is share factual information not just about, not just 'hey this stuff you're hearing about CRT, let's take a look at where it actually came from. It came from a think tank and here's the guy who tweeted about who said he's going to make this a thing,' and let that guide you," Ms. Olson said. "This isn't something that some kids came home from Forest Hills Public schools with assignments that were labeled CRT on the headline."

The group is now working on a proactive approach for the upcoming election year. In her district alone, Ms. Olson said 13 candidates have filed to run for local school boards. Ms. Olson stated how in years past, parents who were involved in their communities would run for school boards. Now, she said groups like the Forest Hills for Just Education have their own candidates running on a more political platform.

To help educate voters, the Support Forest Hills Public Schools organization sent surveys to the candidates, specifically asking the candidates what their goals are for the district. Ms. Olson said nine of the 13 candidates responded to the survey, with the candidates who called for the recalls the year prior failing to respond to the survey.

They also hosted a community forum for the candidates, moderated by a third party and sent out a survey for the community, gauging what parents and residents felt was important in terms of education and what matters to them in this election. They endorsed three candidates based on the information provided to them via the survey, finding candidates who were welcoming to diverse students and supported the social and psychological safety were top priorities. She also said that funding the district rather than limiting it was a key priority for survey takers.

"I really think the recall sparked a lot of activism in people," Ms. Olson said about the past year. "People were just so offended."

There was no reason for this at all, she said of the vitriol schools her school district has faced.