RFS feel-good update (8/16): Meet the incredible nominees for our awards
Cast your vote before Friday!
Hi all -
I have some great stuff for you, but before we get into the good vibes, I want to highlight this story, from Right Wing Watch:
The right-wing campaign to stifle teaching and discussion about racism in U.S. history and institutions is fearmongering about critical race theory to mobilize right-wing activists and conservative voters to take over local school boards.
The Leadership Institute, which has trained generations of right-wing activists, is promoting a 20-hour online course to train conservatives how to run for their local school boards in order to “stop the teaching of Critical Race Theory before it destroys the fabric of our nation.” Critical race theory is an academic analytical framework for exploring the existence and impact of systemic racism. Over the past year, the term has been aggressively deployed as a right-wing culture-war weapon that is being used to smear educators and social justice activists. Campaigns against efforts to examine racism in school settings are often combined with attacks on other initiatives to promote inclusion, such as anti-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Right Wing Watch previously reported that Intercessors for America and the Center for Renewing America, the latter run by former Trump administration official Russ Vought, are distributing a toolkit that encourages conservatives to “reclaim” their schools by taking over local school boards through campaigns focused on opposition to critical race theory. The Leadership Institute, with its new course, appears to be following their lead.
Reminder: The Leadership Institute has a $30 million annual budget. Our 2020 budget was a tenth of that. We’d love to expand to be able to take them on toe-to-toe, but to do that, we need your help.
On to the good stuff: We launched our second annual RFS alumni awards — take a look at the incredible nominees and cast your vote before 8/20.
In other RFS alumni & candidate updates:
Broward County School Board member Sarah Leonardi joined Anderson Cooper to talk about their fight against the governor to protect students.
In Miami Dade, school board member Lucia Baez-Geller is fighting the same fight in her county, prioritizing the science above everything else.
Lisa Smith, candidate for Arvada, explains what she’s learning as part of this process in the Colorado Sun: “As a first-time candidate running for Arvada City Council, I can report that it’s an overwhelming journey because, as you are running, you are learning how to run for local office.
Every day, you learn something new about the process. You hear more from your neighbors about what they care about and want from the council. You research programs and policies that have worked in the past or elsewhere to further your ability to tackle the city’s complex challenges. As I often say, “I may know policy, but politics is another beast!”
Christian Menefee, Harris County attorney, successfully fought for a restraining order on Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates and continues to pursue a lawsuit against the governor.
This week on the Run for Something podcast: School boards and Florida have both been in the news lately - so we talked with Broward County School Board member Sarah Leonardi about what's going on in her community. Sarah was a public school teacher who got her start in politics by volunteering on another local campaign. She ran and won in 2020 and at 31, became the youngest member of the school board in the midst of the pandemic. Over her first year on the board, she's dealt with critical race theory, mask mandates, equity policies, protecting trans kids, and more (on top of the normal school governance issues.) Now she's in a fight against the governor about keeping kids safe during the worst wave of the pandemic yet. You can follow her on Twitter at @SarahMKLeonardi.
In some general Run for Something news & updates:
We talked with Cenk Uygur on The Young Turks about the work we’re doing and why it matters now more than ever.
We also joined Gaslit Nation to talk all things Run for Something and why we have to compete in all 50 states and all kinds of communities.
Our team is really proud to be sponsors of the National Council on Independent Living’s candidate training for people with disabilities.
So much more to come as we get ready for the 2021 general elections and continue 2022 recruiting. Thanks for being part of this.
- Amanda