Case Study: When Disinformation-Filled ‘Anti-Diversity’ Candidates Enter the School Board
What can school districts and communities expect if candidates begin to infuse their subjective processes and disinformation campaigns onto governing boards?
With many school districts further down the election path, we can look to the coincidentally named Forest Hills School District in Cincinnati, Ohio for a preview. Over the past year, Forest Hills in Cincinnati has drawn national headlines for the disarray of their school board, now mired in controversy and facing lawsuits over resolutions that violate multiple amendments to the United States Constitution.
During the last election, candidates running on “anti-acronym” platforms won board seats and have since been on a mission to cancel and dismantle books and anything that resembles diversity, equity and inclusion or social emotional learning.
In attempt to gain support for their resolutions, the newly elected board members flipped their resolution name on its head, calling it the “Culture of Kindness,” where the district essentially brushes aside any conversations on empathy or race – claiming it’s kinder to proceed as if everyone is the same.
(The “sameness” argument silences and invalidates anything that makes people unique, whether that be their height, religion, hair color, clothing style or….race. For some reason, observing sameness is only encouraged when it comes to race.)
Despite all but one board meeting public comment made against the “Culture of Kindness” resolution on the night it was passed, the new board majority voted it into existence. Immediately after, the majority opposing the resolution filed a lawsuit explaining the resolution is illegal and unconstitutional. Forest Hills School District is now unable to proceed with implementing the “Culture of Kindness” resolution amid this active court case. So upset by this Board’s restrictive and out-of-touch practices, students have staged walkouts.
Instead of working proactively on locally relevant, timely issues and overseeing the district’s vision, they are now knee-deep in lawsuits.
This is NOT the kind of disruption we need in Forest Hills Public Schools in Michigan. With shared desires to keep our kids focused, inspired, and immersed in academic rigor, these extreme views and time-wasting soap box opportunities are not a fit. We need a school board that can work objectively on facilitating excellence.
Why Extreme Platforms Are Out of Touch
This case study is likely one of the many reasons why candidates campaigning on these platforms are losing steam nationwide. As we shared in a previous blog post, most parents, regardless of political affiliation, say they’re satisfied with their children’s schools and what’s being taught in them. They also love their teachers.
Plus, our district is not free from issues surrounding perceptions by diverse students, and this “don’t dare talk about it” platform goes completely against the real, concerning experiences students have faced. We cannot do this to them. Take one look at the Niche ratings.
Absence of actual CRT curriculum here aside, how might the mere promises and claims of misinformed “anti CRT or DEI” candidates and platforms come off to these kids and families? Downplaying their real experiences? Forest Hills Public Schools cannot afford these games here, nor the harm they will cause students. Everyone is unique and that’s what makes public schools a window and a mirror to the communities they serve. Diversity of being, thought and experience is a wonderful thing.
Further, we know that these “anti” CRT, DE&I, SEL and LGBTQ arguments were planted by pro-privatization politicians and think tanks in the first place to paint public schools as failing to draw more support for universal vouchers, or the Let Mi Kids Learn student opportunity and tax credit scholarships in our state. (Read our comprehensive guide to disinformation.) Whether school board candidates realize they are latching onto arguments intended to defund our beautiful school district is not entirely known, however, the local attack group and some of its board candidates have promoted Let Mi Kids Learn as a “game changer,” helping to collect signatures for the petition.
Parents and caretakers choose our Forest Hills Public Schools for their children because they trust its reputation of excellence, high national rankings, and availability of program “extras,” like Project NEXT, Gone Boarding, and the language immersion schools – among other options. As parents, we trust our educators.
What a bright future and reducing division looks like to us is recognizing that many of the national arguments which have been localized here are in the best interests of politicians – not students. Reducing division means focusing attention on locally relevant issues, like ensuring regular bus service, strong communication, and safe, welcoming schools. It means following available policies created in response to parent feedback, such as asking for review of certain books. It also means choosing pro-FHPS and pro-public education candidates who offer new ideas that ADD to FHPS, not censor, or restrict. It means electing candidates who understand what public education is up against and who fight to protect its funding.
Make an informed vote on November 8 or by absentee ballot.