Culture war in school board races expected to continue

COLUMBUS — Conservative candidates campaigning on the cultural war against critical race theory and mask and vaccination policies made only small gains in local school board races across Ohio last Tuesday, but political observers say it’s just the beginning of a movement.

Expect candidates to continue thumping on the culture war in 2022 — in races for local school boards, the state school board, the legislature, the governor’s office and the U.S. Senate.

At stake is the support of suburban white voters — particularly the votes of women in the suburbs — who had generally backed Republicans until former President Donald Trump became the party’s nominee, and they began supporting Democrats.

“If you think it through from a psychological perspective of how can (Republicans) win back suburban women, the possibility of threatening the health and safety and education and well-being of their children is a surefire way to do that,” said Crystal Lett, a former Democratic state legislative candidate who is now Ohio program director of Red Wine and Blue, a group that focuses on engaging suburban women in politics.

Gov. Mike Dewine, after a steady stream of allegations from GOP primary opponent Jim Renacci that he supported critical race theory, said Thursday he opposes education content that “divides” children and parents. Critical race theory is described in some rightwing circles as espousing “divisive concepts.” The primary is May 3.

“This is not going away,” said Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, a conservative public policy organization formerly known as Citizens for Community Values. “And it’s going to ride out. (Vice President) Kamala Harris was right when she spoke at the rally for (Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry) Mcauliffe, where she said the outcome of Virginia is going to dictate what’s going to happen in ’22 and ’24.”

In the end, Mcauliffe lost to Republican Glenn Youngkin, who focused on education issues.

Critical race theory is studied by academics at the university level and not in K-12 schools. But some themes examined in critical race theory, such as the lasting effects of slavery, have been discussed in public schools. Groups such as the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has been a leading voice in opposition to the theory, falsely equates it with diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Education issues are easier to understand than, for instance, the complicated corruption investigation into Ohio House Bill 6, or other campaign platforms, Baer said.

“Its really hard to quantify and understand how (HB 6) impacts your day-today life,” Baer said. “But a lot of people are parents.”

Lett, of Red, Wine and Blue, said allegations that schools promote critical race theory rose shortly after the racial justice protests in 2020 in response to George Floyd’s murder.

“This was the reaction, and the Republicans had to respond because of how loud that was, how impactful that response was,” she said. “This is just their way to do that. It’s shameful in so many ways.”

Mark Weaver, a longtime Ohio GOP strategist, said that the culture wars are also the result of anger over the government’s response to the pandemic. Just 10 years ago, the tea party coalesced in opposition to the Affordable Care Act.

“Many of these are the same demographic groups,” Weaver said. “They’re speaking on the issue Democrats overreached about. For example, in 2011, Barack Obama wanted to expand government and raise taxes to create a new entitlement called Obamacare. People were angry about that because they believed that government that’s too big can be oppressive, and can deny people their freedom and their rights. So that converted into the tea party.”

Today, many conservatives believe that Democratic President Joe Biden’s vaccination mandates for government employees, government contractors and large companies is also overreach.

“The response we saw in 2011 from the tea party and the response we see in 2021 from the angry parents has a lot to do with what the Democrats did,” he said. “In politics as in physics, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”

On the other hand, people who support vaccine mandates and other government mandates say they are necessary for public health, which they think is more important than personal choice.

Now that a Democrat is president Republicans are playing offense, Weaver said.

“We’re the ones hitting the puck 100 miles an hour at the Democrats, we’re on offense now,” he said. “That’s what you’re seeing. That’s what this energy is. The Republican base is like, ‘Oh man, is Joe Biden messing up. Let’s go out and make some political points about it, let’s organize our neighbors.’”

But the consequence of the culture war could be a negative image on Ohio public schools, said Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

“I think it is incumbent upon us and voters to really question these people about their education agenda. They’ve said very clearly they’re anti-crt, antimasks,” she said. “What is it that they’re going to do for education? What is the plan for making our education system better? All they’re saying is these talking points. They’re talking about things that aren’t even happening.”

Cropper is also worried about the consequences of uncivil behavior of angry adults crowding school board meetings to challenge policies.

On Thursday, she sent an email to the teacher union’s 20,000 members, acknowledging stories educators have shared with her about children’s classroom behavior this year. Children are mirroring the uncivil behavior of adults, she said.

“From what you are telling me, it sounds like our classrooms are microcosms of what we see playing out in society, and our children are parroting what they see and hear from social media or from other adults in their lives,” she wrote. “The anger, the lack of civility, the denial of facts, the lack of respect for authority — how do we combat what our children are seeing as normal behavior?”

Cropper said she’s concerned the behavior will drive teachers away from the profession.

“To make matters worse, the people who control policy decisions in this state are either tone deaf to what is happening in our classrooms or are deciding to take advantage of all the division to push their own political agendas or both. Neither is acceptable,” she wrote. “We have to raise our voices, make our concerns known, and demand change.”