"The Conservative School Board Strategy. Republicans are trying to use suburban fights over critical race theory and pandemic restrictions to energize their voters."
USC School of Public Policy:
"The next battleground in U.S. politics? School boards"
NPR:
"A coordinated nationwide agenda dominated local school board elections last year."
Southern Oregon voters on Tuesday voted to fill local offices for districts providing water, fire, libraries, and schools. Typically these are non-political, non-partisan, non-controversial offices. Citizens with a public-spirited cast of mind and a willingness to volunteer put themselves forward to stand for election. The office are unpaid and thankless. Voter turnout is typically low, and it was again this week. Statewide turnout was 25.3%. Locally it was 22%.
Something interesting happened locally. Two incumbent school board members lost. There were four election winners.
I was happy to see the results.
Voters rejected candidates whose campaigns hinted at bringing the culture wars here to local schools. There is plenty of opportunity for controversy in K-12 education, going beyond the regular ones of teacher pay and benefits, school calendars, facilities, budgets, and educational programs to grow or shrink. Nationalized culture war battles have gone local over issues of Covid, vaccinations, library books, sex education, bathrooms, and curriculum. Current and likely GOP presidential candidates are sounding the alarm that schools are teaching that slavery and Jim Crow were racist and that European settlement and removal of Indians was genocidal, positions that reflect badly on Whites. They argue that elements of Critical Race Theory are sneaking into the K-12 curriculum, presenting American history as a series of challenges, which they consider unpatriotic. They argue that gender is binary, full stop, and that schools should reflect that in their bathrooms, pronouns, and libraries. They argue that "critical thinking" teaches children to question American history, not recognize its achievements. They argue that what political conservatives see and dislike in the progressive university settings are infecting our K-12 schools. They have a plan of action: Get onto local school boards to protect our children from liberals.
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| USC School of Public Policy |
Local voters needed to feel their way in dim light to discern which candidates for school board were directly or indirectly part of that agenda. Yet they did so.
Candidates who lost their elections had lawn signs posted in familiar places where Trump signs went up in 2016 and 2020. The local Republican Party establishment works to assist favored candidates in non-partisan races. The local GOP leadership has a reputation for being hyper-extreme, a hotbed of MAGA 2020 election denialism. Maybe voters saw the connection between nonpartisan candidates and the local GOP activists, and rejected them.
An incumbent school board member lost his election. He put this statement in his school board biography:
To best prepare students for a successful, independent and responsible adulthood, he strongly believes that public education should focus primarily on pure academic pursuits like reading and math and avoid curricula that promotes divisive, politically charged social issues. The tax-payer funded schools should concentrate on fact-based academic curriculum that promotes education, not indoctrination.
Maybe voters read between the lines and considered this a hint of future MAGA troublemaking drama, and rejected that and him with it.
Candidates whose Voters Pamphlet statements mentioned religious affiliations and support by right wing faith advocates lost their elections. Candidates whose Voters Pamphlet statement mentioned support by Medford teachers won. Maybe people made a choice.
Maybe it was campaign quality. Maybe the people who won had better campaigns, and I just didn't see them, since I don't spend much time with Facebook and no time at all on Instagram, and that is where campaigns take place now. Or maybe the winners knocked on more doors. Maybe they had bigger networks of friends.
It is hard to know. But for some reason, in a low turnout election, the people whose campaigns seemed to indicate that their primary interest was the ongoing non-political operation of the schools won their elections. And the people whose campaigns hinted at a culture war agenda lost.
Fine with me.
[Note: I invite comments from candidates who feel I may have mistaken or misrepresented their positions. I will publish them with at least equal visibility as is this post. Curt Ankerberg, a losing candidate, has already written a comment, which is posted below in the comments section. Caution. It contains strong language. I deleted his comments about the County Clerk and County Administrator because I consider them defamatory.
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20 comments:
That’s right, we need to avoid curricula, like civics and history, that promote divisive, politically charged social issues. Too “woke.”
The good news is that Curt didn't get very many votes. The bad news is that he got any. There are a lot of crazies out there.
Since forever we have had separate lavatories, dressing rooms, locker rooms, shelters, prisons, etc. for males and females. Why? For safety, privacy and common decency reasons (remember that concept, which your parents and grandparents tried to instill in you?).
Peeping Toms exist, indecent exposure happens, sexual abuse and assault are common for girls and women and a daily threat.
So WHY now is it considered ok by some for males to invade female-only spaces? WHY is it ok to let the fox into the hen house?
The people who support this are naive, bleeding hearts who probably have consumed too much dope. Or they are perverts. Fortunately most Americans can still think straight about this matter.
My beloved grandparents would have died from despair to see what some radicals, freaks and perverts are trying to do to this country.
Steeley.....you deserve shitty schools with a 28% pass-rate. That's what you voted for, asshole. That's what you got.
On second thought, they probably would have stroked out or had a massive heart attack. They lived through the Great Depression, World War II and many other personal and national hardships and tragedies. I am thankful that my dead grandmothers were spared these insults and assaults against females.
A turn of the word - unisex bathroom has replaced what forever was called, in my parts, an outhouse. Yes, even our forefathers and foremothers used chamber pots in their homes and all the kids shared one bedroom. Let's be real, the stalls have doors with latches. And as for the forever remark, we all poop and pee, let us avoid controlling that function too like the GOP is controlling women's reproductive health, at the moment. Watch the movie "Heavenly Figures" where black women mathematicians, who calculated the Apollo trajectory to the moon, were forced to use a separate restroom.
Why all the craziness over such a small portion of the population? Could it be the GOP can't win on the merits of their governance and must contrive oddball distractions? Remember how riled up the Tea Party became over the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obama Care) and rolled into Washington DC to change things? Well they did, and now there is fewer hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses serving outside the urban centers, but the health insurance companies and HMOs are posting record profits. Boy were you played on that.
LBGTQ+ persons have existed within human populations forever as an extremely small percentage of the population. What is different now is the openness. It took the pandemic to show us how hollow our healthcare system had become under the constant GOP attacks. Now there is an all out frontal assault on women and our schools. Thankfully we saw through the ploy in this primary election. Now to prepare for the craziness of the 2024 primary election, onward.
Comment posted by CURT ANKERBERG, WITH TWO SENTENCES REMOVED BECAUSE THEY REFERENCE OTHER PEOPLE AND I CONSIDER THEM DEFAMATORY:
Sage, you're a stupid motherfucker. Medford schools are massively failing, and all you give a shit about is if your candidate has a "D" behind their name. You get what you deserve. Shitty schools with a 28% pass-rate.
For the record, my voter pamphlet statement was left black because that power-hungry CUNT Chris Walker censored it. I never had a chance to win this election with a blank voter's pamphlet statement. Jackson County elections are fixed, too.
Ooooo tough and scary words there Angerburger. I'm sure "Steely" is quaking in his boots. Meanwhile you might want to think about taking a break from the crazy pills.
I'm not there's ever been a more perfect nickname than "Angerburger". He makes the average everyday MAGAs look almost sane by comparison.
Yes, encouraging results though not the most thrilling turnout...22.19%
I don't think it bodes well when 78% of the electorate don't bother to vote in a mail in election.
The following is a comment presented for publication by Curt Ankerberg. I am publishing it verbatim, but with the following introduction. I observe that it is obscene. I present it as an insight into a local Republican office-seeker and Trump supporter. I do NOT agree with his sentiments. I consider this an opportunity better to understand Curt Ankerberg, but not as a way to get useful information about Christine Walker. My observation is that Christine Walker does a difficult job well and honorably.
Below is the comment by Ankerberg, who received over 2,000 votes for School Board:
Chris Walker is a CUNT. Say it loudly!
Walker's uncle is a former Jackson County Commissioner who forced the former county clerk out of office, then he installed Chris Walker as the new county clerk after her only experience was as a low-level clerical worker, and after she had filed bankruptcy. Chris Walker is an incompetent crook who owes her existence to the Chamber of Commerce good old boys in town. She's as corrupt as the day is long, and she runs fixed-elections. Walker illegally censored my voter's pamphlet statement, and this is after she illegally tried to prevent me from running in an earlier election. All of Jackson County is dirty. Dave Dotterrer worked as a lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce for 4 years immediately before he became commissioner. Dotterrer is owned by the Chamber, and he's their whore. Neither Rick Dyer nor Dotterrer give a shit about the "little people" in Jackson County.
Amazingly, super toxic people can't get enough votes to win races in some places, even if they try over and over and over. I mean, ok? If your brand of politics has worked never, keep on trying, yeah? If it ain't woke, don't fix it? Meanwhile, Peter, your hide is thicker than mine. Thanks for weathering this ...
Curt can't help it. As he said at his trial, he has "water on the brain." But over 2,000 people want that on our school board! Really? As I've said before, Republicans like their guns better than their children.
Congratulations for defeating all the trumpuglicans, Jacksonians!
I’m particularly impressed since MY sane, progressive local school boards lost EVERY election for board of directors. Shocking.
The only good news is EVERY candidate for the local library board defeated EVERY book burner, anti Vaxer, etc
See you later, curt-hopefully you’re back when you move to a different country. Sheesh.
Maybe we JOCO folks need to take lessons from you JACOs!
Hey, curt, how bout posting what your voter pamphlet WOULD HAVE SAID, had it not been rejected? Then we’d know whether to take pity on you. Maybe it really is some stupid thing, perhaps merely your choice of “palabrotas”?
Sensible people are realizing they have to pay attention to things like school board elections to keep extreme thinking people from taking over. Maybe it’s also spreading to past non voters. Jacksonville in Florida electing a democrat? Maybe the radical right will figure out that they can go too far with their “conservative “ agenda.
Curt, why don't you move from Jackson County? It would make you and many others happier.
Are readers familiar with the work of John H. McWhorter V ?
He is a black professor of linguistics at Columbia University (PhD from Stanford University). He wrote the book "Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America" (or very close to that), published in 2021.
The blogger has written about information silos. Professor McWhorter is a New York Times best-selling author. If you don't have access to the book, you can read about McWhorter, his work and his views on the internet. He has a Wikipedia page and is no stranger to the media.
Agreed, Angerberg still got something like 25% of a very low turnout. Quite disappointing.
Don't hold your breath, Dave. On more than one occasion, I've suggested "R" elected officials that if they really want their policies enacted, they should try offering programs and policies that the Majority of voters approve of. Without exception, I've been blocked from further conversation.
If he doesn't like GOP electeds, he could vote for a Dem... oh wait, then his cognative dissonance would make his head 'splode.
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