Culture wars rage in school board races
First, the adults fought. Now the kids are at war.
Thousands of highly politicized school board races were amplified by anger over COVID-19 protocols and how schools deal with race and culture.
It’s a flashpoint in the culture wars between the right and left. For students, more is at stake than politics.
Restrictions on lessons about race or bans on inclusive signage – moves often overseen by school boards that are shifting more conservative – have made school harder for kids of color and LGBTQ students, teens say.
The negative tenor of adult disagreements has produced tensions for all students.
School board meetings over the past year have seen assaults, uncivil language and threats of violence toward board members.
In government class, “when we’re talking about things like political parties and their beliefs, there’s a tension,” said Malak Saad, a senior at a predominantly white school in Loudoun County, Virginia.
“Nobody wants to cross that line of being aggressive, but with what’s happening now, it’s hard not to get defensive,” Saad said.
The conditions under which students learn affect their academic and emotional development.
Decreasing signs of safety and inclusion make it harder for kids on the margins to learn, said Melanie Willinghamjaggers, the interim executive director of GLSEN, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools.
“We know that all humans, but particularly young people, have to feel safe in their bodies and their hearts and their minds to be available to learning,” Willingham-jaggers said. “You can’t learn if you feel like you’re under threat.”
That’s why schools have made more concerted efforts to recognize and validate students from diverse backgrounds.
Many conservatives say acknowledging differences in race, sexual orientation and sexual identity prompts unnecessary divisions.
Students say signals of support and
acceptance are important to them – and they worry about adults trying to take them away.
Outside Portland, Oregon, the Newberg School Board voted this fall to ban teachers from displaying inclusive signage such as Pride flags and Black Lives Matter posters. Conservative board members elected in the spring pushed for the changes.
The Waukesha School District outside Milwaukee banned teachers from displaying inclusive signs in classrooms this fall on the grounds they’re too political.
Afterward, a teen handed out small Pride flags.
Some classmates scribbled homophobic slurs on them before dropping them in hallways.
Gay Straight Alliance members said club posters they put on their lockers have been repeatedly ripped off or similarly defaced.
“Kids feel empowered to do this stuff because they feel the school board is on their side,” said Alex Bonell, 17, a junior at Waukesha West High School who identifies as queer.
Waukesha’s school board tilted more conservative after two members supported by Republicans won seats in April.
“The whole issue has become a big deal precisely because we’re fighting back against a rule change, and then kids on the other side want to fight back against us,” said Kailey Williams, a 17year-old who is multiracial and queer.
Pride flags and Black Lives Matter posters are not political signs, Williams said, and taking them down does not imply the school is inherently a safe space for everyone.
Pride flags in classes made Isabella Arndt, 16, a junior at Waukesha West, feel safe and accepted starting high school as a freshman.
Today, Arndt said, the situation makes her feel defeated. She sought out a counselor to talk about it.
Wisconsin’s school board elections are normally held in spring, but tension around critical race theory and equity issues is so high that the Mequonthiensville school board in a Milwaukee suburb held a school board recall election Tuesday.
A slate of four conservative candidates looked to oust sitting members they said are too leftist and lax at addressing the Mequon-thiensville School District’s academic deficiencies. The wealthy school system is among the highest-performing in the state.
The candidates want to stop the district from teaching critical race theory ideology, even though district leaders said it’s not being taught.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, the school board’s policy around transgender rights has been a flashpoint in the governor’s race.
Conservatives accused the school board of covering up a sexual assault of a girl in a bathroom – by a boy in a skirt, according to the alleged victim’s father – to advance a political agenda of inclusivity.
Loudoun’s transgender policy – which, in accordance with state requirements, lets students choose the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity – has been one of many hot button issues that resulted in threats and harassment to school board members.
The victim’s father was arrested at a Loudoun County school board meeting in the summer after swearing at another person and clenching his fist at her. He was convicted of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
The gender identity of the student who allegedly assaulted the man’s daughter hasn’t been confirmed by authorities. The incident occurred before the gender-inclusive policy went into effect.
Other normally low-energy school board races have been catalyzed by newcomer candidates and support from national political groups, especially Republicans hoping to set the stage for the 2022 midterm elections.
In Pennsylvania, the Central York School District had 12 candidates campaigning for six open seats. Central York banned educational resources by and about people of color, a policy the board retracted this fall.
In Ohio, the number of candidates for school board has doubled since 2017. Many newcomers have Republican Party support to push back against school mask mandates, critical race theory and policies that allow transgender students to compete on teams that match their gender identity.