For those not as aware of local politics, national components of the right wing have been actively pushing take-overs of local public school districts. This has been a simple task in red states, but the fights in purple states (like mine - WI) have been pretty aggressive. Bigger conservative groups, like turning point USA, have been dumping a lot of money backing certain candidates during elections against opponents who don’t have the resources to combat them. When a conservative majority is in place they begin enacting policies that degrade the educational outcomes, which are then used as justification to make major changes to push private school voucher programs and online curriculums from orgs like turning point.
I know the scale and distance of federal policies makes you feel helpless, but if you can, please get involved in your local school boards, even if you aren’t a parent of school aged children. Bonus points if you have the capacity and mental fortitude to serve as a board member. If/when you do get involved, here are the major things to look out for, and speak out against.
Step 1-reduction in support for teachers: this includes reduced pay, reduced benefits, cutting support/administrator positions (typically under the false promise of using those funds to hire additional aides), book banning, curriculum modifications, cutting art/elective programs, cutting technology budgets
*the purpose of these are the signal a lack of trust in the teachers, and increase the burnout and turnover rate which allows them to push to the next stage
Step 2-push for reduced funding for public education: (often times this comes with school boards who change their meetings from public to private) Push for school vouchers, push for online curriculums that is student led and in leu of teachers.
Step 3-state takes over of school district
If you are involved locally, and have experienced this in your area, I would appreciate if you could share your story so that others can use them as examples to bring to their community of what is happening and the negative impacts they could experience if they follow suit. Likewise, if you have successfully staved off these attempts, please share what worked to be a model for others.