History of Moms for Liberty

Censorship in school is an ever relevant subject of debate. It is seemingly impossible to browse the news without encountering a book banning controversy of some sort. Literature and curriculum including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality deviating from cis, white, christian, heteronormativity, are all under scrutiny from conservatives. 

One group infamous for spurring these book-bannings in addition to other conservative ideology within schools is Mom’s for Liberty, a 501 c 4 charity founded in florida during January of 2020.

The grou, bursting into public consciousness through high-trafficked programs such as Fox News and the Rush Limbaugh show. Mom’s for liberty claims they are a grassroots organization funded by donations and t-shirts, but it is reasonable to assume that their connections and momentum come at least partially from backers behind the scenes.

Two major sponsors of the National Moms for Liberty summit are the Leadership Institute and The Heritage Foundation, two members of the Council for National Policy, a far-right network which aims to draft and implement extremist conservative policy.

The leadership institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which teaches “political technology.” Its stated intent is to “increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists” and to “identify, train, recruit and place conservatives in politics, government, and media.” According to their website, the institute has trained over 230,788 students since its founding in 1979.

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank that has had major influence over national policy over the years. Specifically, the organization has exerted major influence over the Reagan and Trump administrations. Prior to Reagan entering office, he was provided with a 1,100 page “mandate for leadership”, the explicit purpose of which was aimed at erasing years of liberal policy. A whopping 60% of the 2000 suggestions outlined in the mandate were adopted. The Trump administration was similarly influenced, adding 66 heritage foundation member’s to its ranks before its completion.

There is a similar pattern for which far-right advocates achieve control over policy in school districts. The process begins with a public outcry surrounding some controversial topics, generally literature or curriculum within schools. unknowns begin showing up at school board meetings contesting some topic being allowed in the educational setting.

 “It’s the initial outrage that you’ll start to see,” Says Rob Rodgers, a longtime anti-censorship advocate who ran for the house of representatives in 2022. “All the sudden you’ll see some people that you’ve never seen before show up at school board meetings completely outraged and are fearful about some culture war issue.”

Slowly these independent individuals begin rallying together; wearing t-shirts, bringing coordinated letters to the school board, etc. Spreading from the initial outrage, the movement gains media attention and legitimization as a political force.

This strategy is especially effective due to the lack of importance placed on school board elections. School board elections take place in even years, meaning there is less voting momentum in general. Next year, Boulder City elections will move to odd voting years, meaning school board elections will be a stand alone event. The lack of media coverage and general awareness means that vocal minorities, given enough momentum, can easily form majorities in school boards on a simple basis of low voter turnout from the majority. 

The consequences of these elections are immense. A school board has three chief responsibilities: To elect a superintendent, to review and edit the budget, and to review and implement policy. Even one uncooperative board member is enough to significantly stall board efforts, and more than that is enough to completely overwrite the public opinion of a school district.

Woodland Park is a small school district in Colorado which recently added three far-right conservatives to its ranks, despite the district’s generally liberal demographic. Because of this, Woodland park has become the first school district in the country to implement the “Conservative American Birthright” social studies curriculum, the standards of which were created by the civics alliance, a national conservative coalition, and emphasize patriotism and christianity. 

The curriculum passed despite public disapproval, leading to an exodus from the school district as families aim to avoid the new conservative leadership. This emphasizes how much impact a school board majority can have.

The lack of public focus on school board elections leaves them highly vulnerable to forming majorities that fail to represent the will of the people within their districts. Mom’s for liberty is a powerful organization with the backing of the Heritage Foundation and Leadership institute behind them, and thus they possess enough power to push for conservative leadership and policy in locations which it might be undesired.

In November of 2023, four of the seven seats on the BVSD school board will be up for grabs. The importance of placing individuals who represent the common interest of BVSD in these positions cannot be understated. 

A candidate forum will be held October 18th at the BVSD education center, which is a fantastic opportunity to familiarize yourself with the candidates. Taking control of your education can be as simple as a conversation with your parents or peers.

Mom’s for liberty active in Boulder as School board elections approach

Censorship in school is an ever relevant subject of debate. It is seemingly impossible to browse the news without encountering a book banning controversy of some sort. Literature and curriculum including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality deviating from cis, white, christian, heteronormativity, are all under scrutiny from conservatives. 

One group infamous for spurring these book-bannings in addition to other conservative ideology within schools is Mom’s for Liberty, or M4L, a 501 (c)(4) charity founded in Florida during January of 2020. As of January of 2023, Mom’s for liberty has opened a chapter in Boulder.

M4L’s preferred method of advocacy centers around school boards.They pursue change by pushing through members into these boards in order to gain control over educational policy in the district. School boards have major authority over policy in their district, hiring and firing the superintendent, and the budget. Therefore, when a school board has a strong right-wing majority, it is easy to push through conservative policy, no matter the public opinion.

Moms for Liberty’s infiltration of school boards follows a consistent pattern, starting at the individual level, then graduating to a large organized effort.

“It’s the initial outrage that you’ll start to see,” Says Rob Roberts, a longtime anti-censorship advocate. “All the sudden you’ll see some people that you’ve never seen before show up at school board meetings completely outraged and are fearful about some culture war issue.”

School Board elections are not of major importance in the majority of people’s minds, making it easy for a motivated minority to influence elections through unrepresentative voter turnout, something far-right groups excel at.

In November of 2023, four of the seven seats on the BVSD school board will be up for grabs. The importance of placing individuals who represent the common interest of BVSD in these positions cannot be understated. 

A candidate forum will be held October 18th at the BVSD education center, which is a fantastic opportunity to familiarize yourself with the candidates. Taking control of your education can be as simple as a conversation with your parents or peers.