The national anti-racist watchdog organization People for the American Way (PFAW) has exposed a coordinated dark money campaign to fund local front groups’ electoral activities. Their Right-Wing Watch project has uncovered attempts to recruit and ultimately back candidates for boards of education (BOE) across the country by campaigning against so-called “critical race theory” curricula.
Click here for more from PFAW on the race-based attempt to seize local school boards.
The campaign’s inflammatory rhetoric this summer stalled out locally with majorities of parents in most Connecticut communities rejecting the politics of division and hate. National funders have instead found fertile ground in the Nutmeg State among small but vocal minorities clinging to anti-science propaganda regarding COVID-19 safety protocols.
A local front group last week brought the issue to the boiling point at a “back-to-school” forum in Cheshire featuring a panel of stakeholders and politicians. State education department officials after just 30 minutes ended the event early following outbursts from a small crowd from the local “Unmask Our Kids CT” chapter.
Click here for news analysis of the incident and those responsible for it.
“The highest duty of a board member is to ensure the safety and well-being of the district’s students and staff,” said Jason Adler (in photo, right), our Waterford Federation of Classroom Teachers’ president. “Teaching and learning cannot occur in an unsafe environment.”
Adler, a Clinton BOE member, added, “I have the pleasure of serving on a Board of Education that makes decisions based on the best interests of student learning and health.” added Adler. “It pains me to witness friends and neighbors – good people – being sold a false narrative by shadowy figures who hope to benefit politically through strife.”
Click here for national reporting on right-wing attempts to take-over school boards.
“We must let science and safety continue to be our north star when it comes to the students and employees of our school systems,” Adler concluded.
Union activists like Adler have once again stepped up in 2021 to run on the “labor is your neighbor” platform. They will be on the November 2 Municipal Election ballot in towns across Connecticut – and need our support between now and then in order to win.
The state’s two Connecticut AFL-CIO Area Labor Federations (ALFs) are coordinating a series of “get out the vote” (GOTV) activities beginning in September in support of labor-endorsed candidates. Sigh-up today to volunteer a few hours over the next two months to help protect your community’s schools from an extremist-funded power grab.
Click here to send email requesting more information on this fall’s GOTV activities.
