Moms for Liberty’s Nationwide School Races Agenda Anticipates Dispute with Teachers Unions

The parental rights group, Moms for Liberty, known for its attempts to dominate school boards in several states, is strategizing to broaden these endeavors across the nation, and extend to other education roles in 2024 and beyond. This strategy is likely to ignite a conflict with teachers unions and left-leaning critics, who perceive the group as a negative force in public education.

Tiffany Justice, the group’s co-founder, indicated at their annual summit in Philadelphia that Moms for Liberty would leverage its political action committee next year to participate in school board elections all over the country, endorsing candidates at the state board level and for elected superintendent positions.

These statements verify that Moms for Liberty, a group which has stirred up school board meetings with its strong objections to systemic racism and gender identity teachings, is now formulating a grander scheme to revamp the education system throughout the country.

Despite the attention of voters shifting towards the 2024 presidential race, Moms for Liberty’s emphasis on education guarantees that school board elections will continue to be contentious political arenas.

Originating from the efforts of three Florida moms opposing COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, Moms for Liberty has rapidly risen to prominence in Republican politics, bolstered by the board’s political training and alliances with leading GOP groups and legislators. The group’s advocacy for school choice and the parents’ core rights in determining their children’s education has won them allies like Ron DeSantis, a notable GOP presidential candidate, and the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Nonetheless, the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the group as an “extremist” organization, accusing it of harassing community members, promoting anti-LGBTQ+ falsehoods, and attempting to erase diverse and inclusive content from educational materials.

Moms for Liberty’s track record of getting their chosen candidates elected has seen varied success. In 2022, just over half of the 500 school board candidates they endorsed across the nation were victorious. However, in the spring of 2023, less than a third of the nearly 30 candidates they endorsed in Wisconsin got elected.

Jon Valant, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has researched education policy, suggests that focusing on state-level candidates might provide Moms for Liberty with a chance to wield more influence on key decision-making positions.

Despite increasing opposition due to its growing national presence, Moms for Liberty might also find advantage in its partnership with the conservative training organization the Leadership Institute, and the financial support from a burgeoning donor base.

However, Moms for Liberty could potentially face resistance from grassroots movements and voters who fundamentally disagree with the group’s vision of public education.

Moms for Liberty has not disclosed which elections it will target in 2024, other than clarifying that it will not endorse legislative or presidential elections.

Still, as the group abstains from participating in the presidential election, Republican candidates are eager to tap into the influence and extensive network of Moms for Liberty, encompassing over 120,000 members across 45 states, to attract its voting group and enhance their primary campaigns.

Five GOP candidates including DeSantis and former President Donald Trump, made appearances at the Philadelphia gathering, which ended on Sunday. Each tried to outdo the other with their criticism of “woke ideology” and its presence in education, and the necessity to remove pronouns and “critical race theory” from classrooms.

“The membership of this organization is just a small tip of the iceberg of a broader pro-parent, pro-children movement in our country,” Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and one of the attendees, told reporters at the summit.

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