by David Catron
For most Americans, “Mom” evokes images of kindness, courage, sympathy and love. Likewise, “liberty” calls up concepts like individual rights, freedom of expression, equality and justice. Yet, the perversity of the current political environment is such that a parental rights group whose name combines these two words has been demonized by Democrats, the corporate media and the reactionary left. Just recently, a New Hampshire Democrat denounced the group as “Assholes with casseroles,” the Hill ran a story titled, “Six reasons why Moms for Liberty is an extremist organization,” and the Southern Poverty Law Center added them to its Hate Map.
Why so much animus for an organization whose goal is merely to give parents a voice in the education of their children? It certainly doesn’t reflect public opinion. An Economist/YouGov poll released in late June found that a mere 23 percent of Americans view Moms for Liberty unfavorably. The remaining 77 percent view it favorably or have no opinion about the group at all. The organization was co-founded in Florida by Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice, who had witnessed firsthand the disregard for parental rights by school boards on issues ranging from COVID-19 restrictions to age-appropriate curricula. In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, they suggest that the education establishment sees them as a threat:
A survey conducted last month for Moms for Liberty by Jim McLaughlin proves that point. Mr. McLaughlin’s national poll of 1,000 likely voters found that more than two-thirds think the K-12 public-education system is on the wrong track. Two-thirds favor removing age-inappropriate sexually explicit material from K-12 classroom. Maybe most important, the poll found that 70% of Americans think parents, not government, should have the ultimate say over what is being taught to their children at school.
This explains why Moms for Liberty has, in less than three years, expanded from a few chapters in the Sunshine State to nearly 300 chapters in 45 states. Nor have they restricted themselves to protesting at school board meetings. They have endorsed and actively supported parent-friendly candidates for school board seats nationwide. In 2022, they supported 500 candidates, 275 of whom won. Moreover, their candidates took control of 17 school boards in California, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Moms for Liberty has now set its sights on school board elections in 2024, even as the organization enjoys rapidly growing conservative support and donor funding.
This has inevitably incurred the wrath of teacher’s union officials who have dominated the nation’s school boards in recent decades. Becky Pringle, for example, is the President of the National Education Association (NEA). According to a report in Newsweek, “Pringle accused Moms for Liberty of ‘running extreme’ candidates who ‘politicize classrooms’ and ‘use students as pawns in culture wars.’” She also denounced the Parents Bill of Rights Act (HR 5) that was passed by House Republicans last March, insisting that the bill “would make it easier to pass book bans and censor honest, accurate history.” No Democrats voted for HR 5. These data from Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) suggest why not:
[NEA] dues fund a web of political and ideological advocacy groups and causes around the country. This is money collected as regular dues, not as PAC contributions. According to the NEA’s financial report, the union contributed $66 million in 2020-2021 to political organizations, a $16 million increase from the year before. Another $117 million in spending was logged as “contributions, gifts and grants,” a significant portion of which also went to political organizations.
It goes without saying that virtually all of this pelf ultimately goes to Democratic candidates, Political Action Committees, and other organizations whose activities benefit the Democratic Party. And the NEA is by no means the only teachers union that showers largesse on the “Party of Jefferson and Jackson.” The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is also a huge source of donations for the Democrats. AFFT reports, “AFT spent $49 million of members’ dues on politics last year, according to the union’s own reporting. The union spent an additional $6 million on ‘Contributions, Gifts, and Grants,’ with much of this money going to political organizations.” As with the NEA, almost all of this benefits the Democrats.
Are Moms for Liberty and other parental rights groups a real threat to the education establishment? The attacks on them strongly suggest that the latter believes they are indeed.
This means that the Democrats dare not cross the teachers unions, which one co-founder of Moms for Liberty calls the “K-12 Cartel.” The problem for the unions and the Democrats who pander to them is that they are presiding over a failure to accomplish their basic mission — educating children. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results in reading and math are horrifying. While the NEA debates whether to change the term “mother” to “birthing parent,” the scores on the “The Nation’s Report Card” reveal sharp declines for 13-year-olds: “Compared to a decade ago, the average scores declined 7 points in reading and 14 points in mathematics.” This is not about the pandemic, folks.
It’s about how monopolies work. The public education monopoly, particularly when it extends to school boards, has no real need to satisfy its customers — the students and their parents. So, crucial skills like reading and math are neglected while the cartel pursues political goals meant to tighten its grip on the system and crush potential competitors. This is why the unions oppose charter schools. It is why Moms for Liberty and other parental rights organizations are being demonized by Democrats, the corporate media, and the reactionary left. Are Moms for Liberty and other parental rights groups a real threat to the education establishment? The attacks on them strongly suggest that the latter believes they are indeed.
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David Catron is a recovering health care consultant and frequent contributor to The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter at @Catronicus.
Photo “Moms for Liberty” by Moms for Liberty.
