CASEY RYAN: School Board Elections Matter Now More Than Ever

With President Donald Trump signing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, more power will fall to state and local elected officials to determine the content that young children are exposed to in classrooms. This is especially true for district school board members who can determine the curricula taught to students and will likely now gain broader authority.

In most jurisdictions, school board members are elected officials who areresponsiblefor hiring administrators such as the superintendent, approving curricula for their students, creating policies and budgeting district funds. These school boards will now have more power as the Trump administration sends education back to the states. 

While this may worry those who support Trump using the Education Department (ED) to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from America’s schools, parents will have the definitive authority to eliminate woke ideology from their children’s classrooms by electing board members who will support and uphold their values and a belief in a proper education. 

Parents have successfully taken over school boards that previously promoted DEI and woke ideology throughout the country in recent years. Perhaps the greatest example is Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS). With help from grassroots organizations like Moms for Liberty and support from Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the local community electeda conservative majority to the school district’s board of education in 2022. 

Before this election, MDCPS openlypromotedcritical race theory and defended the idea of children transitioning to another gender. The district notably provided books to staff and students such as I Am Jazz and Jack (Not Jackie) that featured young transgender children in a positive manner. 

After the conservative majority took control, they cleaned up the district and eliminated DEI. The district’s DEI website that hosted troubling content for staff now no longer exists. Conservatives then maintainedtheir majority in the 2024 election. 

MDCPS consistentlyremainsone of the top five largest school districts in the country. After the 2022 election, it was the largest school district in America with a conservative school board majority, but this may be changing now for the better. 

The Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas is also one of the largest districts in America. The district hadguidanceto keep the gender identity of students hidden from parents, recently approveda controversial sex education curriculum, andpaidthe Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to provide staff and students with DEI training.

In the most recent November elections, two candidates with connections to Moms for Libertywonseats on CCSD’s school board – marking a significant positive shift for the district. 

Victories like these two districts have happened throughout the country, but not without pushback. Left-wing groups that support DEI such as Red Wine & Blueand theNationalEducation Association(NEA) are scratching and clawing to maintain their hold on our nation’s schools. The NEA has approximately $400 million in revenueeach year to push its disturbing agenda. 

Parents cannot rest on their laurels. Victory is always possible and within reach but not without effort. Virginia is possibly the greatest example. 

Prior to 2021, the general consensus was that Virginia is a permanent left-leaning state now. Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, The Washington Post evenreportedthat the state was “solidly blue.” 

That was not the case as Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won the state the next year on the issue of education. His victory is often attributed to his opponent and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe famously claimingthat parents should not be involved in what schools teach their children, with parents turning out to vote for Youngkin as a result. 

If parents can tilt the Commonwealth of Virginia in their favor, no district or state is out of reach. 

Parents should not fear the Trump administration dismantling ED. They should use the opportunity to elect school boards and state officials who will represent their values and will bring the focus of education back to preparing students for careers in the real world. 

Trump is eliminating federal government overreach. Now parents must do their part.

Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Parents Defending Education.

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