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This article is part of 麻豆精品鈥檚 EDlection 2024 coverage, which takes a look at candidates鈥� education policies and how they might impact the American education system after the 2024 election.

Audra Christian, like many conservative parents in Pinellas County, Florida, was staunchly opposed to school district leaders issuing a mask mandate for students during the pandemic.

But in mid-2021, dismayed by screaming matches over COVID protocols that often broke out at school board meetings, she decided to meet individually with the board members to discuss her concerns. She found them kind and professional, so she encouraged leaders of her local chapter to do the same thing. 

鈥淚 said 鈥業 think you’d like them,鈥� and they said 鈥楴ope, we don鈥檛 want to do that,鈥� 鈥� Christian recalled. 鈥淎ll of a sudden, I was the bad guy. It was very polarized.鈥�

After initially attending some of their meetings and supporting their cause, Christian cut ties with Moms for Liberty. To her, the moment demonstrated the uncompromising way the conservative group became a force in today鈥檚 Republican party. Keeping divisive issues like sexually explicit books and lessons on racial discrimination in the spotlight was a in 2022 as Moms for Liberty-endorsed school board candidates scored victories across the country, especially in Florida where the organization originated. 

Since then, the group hasn鈥檛 been able to repeat its success at the polls. But there are signs that taking control of school boards isn鈥檛 Moms for Liberty鈥檚 top concern right now. They鈥檙e spending money to mobilize voters for like-minded GOP candidates and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris鈥檚 running mate, an 鈥渁nti-parent radical candidate.鈥� Max Eden, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, suggested the group is focused on preparing 鈥渇or the two alternative futures they stand to face.鈥�

鈥淚f Trump wins, I expect that whomever he picks for [education] secretary will be tasked with a strong emphasis on the issues that they care about,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f he loses, there鈥檚 an expectation that Harris will double down hard on social issues from the left.鈥�

Eden described Moms for Liberty鈥檚 recent strategy to join four Republican-led states in over the new Title IX rule as a 鈥渃oup鈥� from both an organizational and membership perspective. The revised regulation extends protections against sexual discrimination to LGBTQ students and gives transgender students the right to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. Moms for Liberty鈥檚 legal move spurred a federal court to issue an injunction, blocking hundreds of schools across the country from enforcing the new Title IX regulations. Moms for Liberty also used the ruling as an opportunity to so they could block the new provisions in more schools. 

鈥極utraged over something鈥�

The success of Moms for Liberty鈥檚 endorsed candidates, however, is still a way to measure the future of a 鈥減arental rights鈥� movement that seeks more control over curriculum and opposes attention to race and social-emotional issues in school.

Former Florida school board members Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich founded the organization in 2021. At the time, their primary cause was battling mask mandates. But their approach quickly resonated with many disillusioned parents in the wake of COVID school closures and the intense reactions to school equity efforts often labeled as critical race theory.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to think of another education advocacy organization that has grown to such national prominence so quickly,鈥� Brookings Institution in March.

In the 2022 election cycle, the group took in , and of its endorsed candidates were elected. But in 2023, the percentage of Moms for Liberty candidates winning school board seats dropped to , in part because other organizations to endorse their own candidates and slow down the group鈥檚 progress. This year鈥檚 results seem on track to mirror last year鈥檚, but the group is not completely out of the running. 

Sue Woltanski, a school board member in Monroe County, Florida, has monitored and Moms for Liberty鈥檚 influence across the state, where it has joined forces with Gov. Ron DeSantis to endorse conservative candidates. A critic of their approach, she called Moms for Liberty members 鈥減eople who have been outraged over something scary at their kid鈥檚 school.鈥�

This year, the group targeted 14 school board races in Florida. Its candidates won just three of the open seats in the August primary. Another five are headed to November runoffs. In a statement, Justice and Descovich counted those candidates who advanced among their victories, saying they were 鈥渢hrilled that Moms for Liberty saw a 60% win rate.鈥� 

But the group鈥檚 tactics 鈥� like reading aloud the most salacious passages from sexually explicit library books at 鈥� often are aimed at making 鈥減eople question whether it’s safe for their kids to go to public schools,鈥� said Woltanski, who defeated one of their endorsed candidates two years ago. Moms for Liberty also embraces private , which continues to in Florida, causing public school enrollment in several districts to decline. 

鈥淚n my little vacation community, if we don’t have high-quality public schools we’re going to just be a resort,鈥� she said. A lot of school boards have conservative members, she added, 鈥渂ut they are still in favor of public education.鈥�

鈥楿s-versus-them mentality鈥� 

Examining Moms for Liberty鈥檚 win-loss record is just one way to measure its impact. Researchers at Michigan State University watched hours of school board meetings to better understand the overall effect of the group鈥檚 presence on rhetoric and behavior during the convenings. 

If Moms for Liberty-backed candidates took the majority of seats following the 2022 elections, they often acted quickly to fire superintendents, place restrictions on books and issue bans on critical race theory or lessons on sex and gender. Members of the public 鈥渢urned out in high volume鈥� to both support and oppose their policies, the researchers said.

鈥淪uccessfully winning a majority of seats on the board seemed to deeply entrench the us-versus-them mentality, leading to increased and divided engagement at meetings in the post-election period,鈥� they wrote. 

But even in districts where Moms for Liberty didn鈥檛 鈥渇lip鈥� the board, the researchers found an overall increase in insults, threats and disorder, like outbursts from the audience, compared to the period between late 2019 and early 2020. 

鈥淚 don’t really think they have any true plans to govern,鈥� said researcher Rebecca Jacobsen. She called their style the 鈥減olitics of disruption.鈥�

There were more displays of anger 鈥� a speaker banging their first on the podium, for example 鈥� and an increase in incidents in which police intervened and removed protesters. Before the pandemic, they found that police only got involved once. But in 2021 and 2022, as Moms for Liberty chapters were spreading across the country, they identified nine board meetings across five school districts where the police intervened.

The Moms for Liberty website urges chapters to push for policy changes, but some critics, like Christian in Florida, say members are more focused on national issues than local concerns, like school safety, bullying and curriculum.

鈥淚 thought they were going to educate moms and dads how to stand up for their children,鈥� she said.

鈥楥lose ties to powerful individuals鈥�

At Moms for Liberty鈥檚 Washington, D.C., summit in late August 鈥� which featured a lengthy conversation between Justice and Trump 鈥� there was no evidence that the group had lost its edge. Despite a poor showing at the polls in Florida, members had other victories to celebrate. 

Three of their leaders, from Naples, from Palm Beach and from Brevard County, had won primary races for Florida House seats and made it onto the ballot in the general election.

鈥淭his is huge for us because it represents the momentum of change we are making across the country as we take our schools back from the union bosses,鈥� the statement from Justice and Descovich said. Justice and Descovich declined 麻豆精品鈥檚 requests for an interview.

As the November election approaches, Moms for Liberty has further turned its attention to increasing membership and mobilizing more voters, spending $3 million in , like Arizona and Georgia. With chapters in 48 states, the Brookings researchers said Moms for Liberty still carries a lot of influence.

鈥淸Moms for Liberty] is a well-financed group with close ties to powerful individuals and institutions in conservative politics,鈥� they wrote. The organization 鈥渞epresents a voting bloc that Republican political operatives are actively trying to court in the 2024 elections and beyond.鈥�

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