Stop silencing parents, school boards

As our country approach the midterm elections, Americans should be humbled by this sacred right; the right to vote.

This “right” has had a tumultuous history, but it has endured the test of times. The unfolding of our democracy extended the franchise from white-male landowners that where at least 21 years of age, to women, the last group to gain the right to vote in 1920. While African Americans had the right to vote on paper, they had to go through blatant disenfranchisement practices like literacy test, counting jellybeans in a jar and poll taxes.

In a couple of days, Americans voices will be heard in jurisdictions across the country, and generally if you are at least 18 years old, not a convicted felon and have a state sponsored ID then you can vote. The fight for the right to vote was a fight for a reason. Power!

For the past several months our nation has been transfixed on some key national elections; Georgia’s senate race, Pennsylvania’s senate race and Arizona’s senate race, just to name a few. But I believe one of the most crucial races to participate in is that of our local school boards.

In the United States there are approximately fifty million students that attend public schools and approximately 13,500 school districts, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. School Boards have the enormous opportunity and privilege to set school policies and are the fiduciary agents for school districts across the country. This past year has seen activism from parents that we have not witnessed in years. Usually school board elections are low-profile, rather boring and don’t attract too much media attention. However, when parents get involved things can change. Many political observers credit Glen Youngkin’s election to Governor of Virginia as a testament to “parents’ power” regarding educational issues as a reason for his victory. Bureaucrats mistakenly believe that they know better than parents and that parents just need to go home and be quiet. Quiet we will not be.

It is abundantly clear that parents’ voices are heard in the electoral process. Our children need our participation in our schools. There is an ideology which has become too common place at school board meetings; sit down and shut up.

Too many school board members have bullied and intimidated parents into silence. Parents have left school board meetings in tears, more frustrated than when they came and totally disrespected, all because they stood up and spoke out for their children. It has truly been maddening. They have used their positions as elected leaders in such a reprehensible way that it is detrimental to fostering a positive environment for educational excellence.

This is one of the most crucial issues facing public education today. We must remind public school officials that they are servants of the “public” and parents are taxpayers. School board members must realize a fundamental tenant of service; you are there to be good stewards for the public, but particularly parents. Parents are entrusting their most valuable asset to you, their children, and you must handle that with the greatest of care. When we disrespect parents, we disrespect children and that must stop.

It is for this reason that as citizens, taxpayers, parents, and community leaders, that we be vigilant about who presides over our school districts. We must raise the expectations of our local elected school leaders and hold them accountable for fairness, transparency, and common sense. Education is the greatest civil rights issue of our time, and this means protecting and promoting the rights of parents, students, and teachers. Feeding the insatiable thirst of our educational bureaucracy cannot and should not threaten our ability to educate our children.

It is paramount that the midterm elections across our country prove to be a referendum on the rights of parents to be heard.

This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.