Imagine knocking on the front door of a stranger in hopes that they’ll consider voting for you for school board. In these days of rage it sounds absolutely terrifying, and yet these sorts of local elections represent the best bet we have to counter extremism and the roll back of rights. That’s because the sort of incendiary rhetoric that sells books and whips up the base is much harder to pull off at the level of the neighborhood. Conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk can write a book arguing that the people he disagrees with (I’m guessing that includes you and me) are “unhuman.” Now try telling us that to our faces.
And yet in our era of Fox-news-i-fied politics, once sleepy school board races now look much more like national races. It’s been five years since the school board wars erupted, first over masks and COVID mitigation, then onto CRT, SEL, library books and gender neutral bathrooms. The media has largely moved on from these stories, concluding that the poor performance of Moms for Liberty and other extremist groups means that we’re done here. But talk to anyone whose school board is dominated by these folks and you’ll hear that the school board wars are very much alive.
In the latest episode of the Have You Heard podcast, we head to bucolic Souderton, Pennsylvania. Forty five minutes north of Philly, this rural-ish enclave has conservative Mennonite roots and for the last several years has been mired in endless battles over books, religion and bathrooms. Then there’s the question of what kind of character a school board member should demonstrate in a school district whose motto is literally “character counts.” This summer, in an incident heard round the world, school board member Bill Formica posted a comment about Kamala Harris so lewd and outrageous, that it seemed like he just might have to resign. (Spoiler: he didn’t, issuing a mealy apology in which he complained that he was just another “alpha white male” being told to shut up.)
And yet, this tense and deeply divided community is also home to one of the most inspiring grassroots parents groups I’ve encountered. Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership came together four years ago in an effort to support a teacher who was running for school board. Each election cycle they’ve moved the needle, winning over more voters in a town where the board has been GOP-dominated for as long as anyone can remember. They’re convinced that this year will be the year they finally succeed in electing a school board that represents the entire community.
I came away from this episode feeling heartened and energized, and hope you will too. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to run for school board!
Questions or ideas for future episodes? Drop me a line here.
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