My venture into local politics tonight.

[Initech]

So right off the bat I should say that I live in an ultra conservative neighborhood. Usually I get along with my neighbors as long as we don't engage in politics. And when the subject of politics comes up, I take the same stance that I have for years which is 7 simple words: "I don't have an opinion on this.". And usually it works every time. And I find that it's a great way to get out of political discussions.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, my neighborhood has had an outdoor, social distanced get together every week - usually to blow off steam, have a drink or two, shoot the breeze, etc. We have one neighbor who is very active in local politics and this week (and is a super far right conservative Fox News addict of the religious variety), and she brought one of the school board candidates to do some politicking.

Immediately I had some red flags. The first is that this is a school board, and the woman who is running is a former police officer. And I'm just in my head going "WTF". Second - they kept talking about how the school board is "broken". Why? Why is it broken - because the schools are not indoctrinated into the MAGA / Fox / far right cult? And the flyer for this woman said that one of her policies was to "de-politicize the classroom". And the third red flag - this officer does not have children in the school district that she is running for! Her children were all fully grown and have most likely graduated high school and/or college by now!

Then I put everything together when I saw the "Trump 2020" bumper sticker and giant American flag hanging from her truck. This is what we are up against - conservatives want control of the schools. They want to control the narrative. They want to control what kids think, and they want to rewrite history that makes conservatives look bad (ie slavery). This is the same shit that happened in Texas with the Texas school board debacle all those years ago. It's happening and it's happening in your town. I do not have kids and even I'm alarmed that this is happening.

But here's the thing - know who is running at your school boards and what they are running for. Even if you don't have kids. If they don't know anything about education or actually having served time in a classroom, don't vote for them! Because they're out to rewrite history and they are out for indoctrination. This is what 40 years of toxic conservative politics has done to us - it enables people who think their opinion is right about everything to indoctrinate their opinions into others. It starts with kids. I don't touch local politics with a 10 foot pole, but after tonight I think I will change that tune.

[Midnight Writer]

1. I am astounded by the some of the people who get elected to the local School Board.

Some, not unlike Betsy DeVos, don't believe we should have public schools at all.

[Initech]

2. Jon Stewart pointed this out back during the Texas school board debacle.

A lot of conservatives get into positions of power because people aren't paying attention to the low level political positions available - or simply don't care. And that's when they sneak in and really do some damage. That's why it's important to vote for every position for every candidate, if you don't, that's how they win.

[Liberty Belle]

3. Another trick they are using to win school board seats:

They list themselves as "teacher."

But one in our area only taught shooting classes at a gun range.

Another taught Creationism at a Christian school.

As media, I now insist on pinning them down on where they teach, and what subject.

Ask who they are endorsed by, which helps ferret out the wingnuts if they're touting Republican officials or megachurch pastors.

[Initech]

6. I seriously wanted to ask what their education credentials were.

But I didn't want to be rude, so I just kept my mouth shut and used my "I have no opinion" stance.

[yellowdogintexas]

4. not only is it awful for the school board and the schools themselves,

the school boards and city councils were how the ultra conservative Republicans wormed their way into control of everything.

[Initech]

5. Yup - vote them all out, on every single level.

Power begats power begats power. It starts at the local level.

[BComplex]

7. This has been going on since the early 90's. The right wing intentionally has taken over who gets

to choose text books in the schools. They've been doing the same things with schools they do with the courts.

Democrats have known about this locally, and there has been no organization on our part to combat these issues. We really need to start organizing locally and actively.

[judesedit]

8. Way before the 90's, my friend

[judesedit]

9. Way before the 90's, my friend

[BComplex]

10. Well, that's true. Actually it started in the 80's with reagan coming in.

[CountMyVote4Reality]

11. Judges, SoS, School Board, Teachers, Sheriff, BoE, etc.

The tentacles are long, meaningful and entrenched. Every election for every office is important.

[PatrickforO]

12. This has been happening with these tea party religious wing-nuts for years

In my county, we had a few get elected and they had no clue what they were doing. Teachers left, class size got bigger, and the district ended up $4 million in deficit.

Then we threw those bums out and elected a sane school board.

DEFINITELY engage in your local politics. That is great. If we don't, then it opens the door for people like this.