Stephanie Flittner is a conservative from Carmel, an prosperous suburb north of Indianapolis, and she or he’s lively in native Republican circles. So Flittner was shocked when a bunch of conservatives in her neighborhood requested her to again out of the native college board race.
“They’re like ‘we’re afraid that too many Republican candidates will break up the slate and, primarily, we cannot be capable to take over the board,’” Flittner mentioned.
Candidates are vying for 3 open seats on the five-member Carmel Clay School Board.
Flittner mentioned the message got here from the joint marketing campaign of Jenny Brake (District 1), Greg Brown (District 3) and Adam Sharp (District 2) — a slate of candidates who declare that academics are indoctrinating college students into liberal ideologies.
The slate is supported by the Hamilton County chapter of Mothers for Liberty, a nationwide conservative dad or mum advocacy group.
Conservative college board candidates throughout Indiana are campaigning on so-called parental rights platforms — from Evansville to Avon to Kokomo. Parental rights has turn into a rallying cry for individuals who oppose masks mandates and imagine that faculties are educating college students important race principle — a theoretical framework that’s been conflated with range, fairness and inclusion efforts — and selling LGBTQ identities.
Regardless of a scarcity of proof, these claims have turn into a typical theme at school board races nationwide. Mothers for Liberty, the highly effective and controversial conservative group, rose to prominence by opposing masks mandates, CRT and social emotional studying. The group desires to put in like-minded folks at school board seats throughout the nation.
However that’s not why Flittner is working towards three different candidates for District 1. Whereas she identifies as a conservative, she does not assume being a faculty board member must be a political place. Native college boards in Indiana are made up of non-partisan officers — almost all are elected.
Flittner refused to again out of the Carmel Clay college board race.
“And I used to be advised, ‘Nicely, I hope you notice that is going to get actually heated,’” she mentioned. “However I will say the one warmth and the one mudslinging that I’ve skilled has been from that very marketing campaign, which is ironic.”
Rumors, indignant telephone calls, and a stop and desist letter
Flittner described the race for varsity board as “the craziest factor I’ve ever been concerned in.”
Through the marketing campaign, she heard rumors from others that she was secretly a liberal who supported educating important race principle in faculties, Flittner mentioned. She additionally heard whispers that she didn’t have youngsters in Carmel faculties. Flittner is the dad or mum of a primary grader in Carmel Clay faculties and a soon-to-be kindergartener.
Flitter mentioned her husband, who operates a Medicare insurance coverage enterprise, obtained calls from shoppers who had been livid she supported CRT. Flittner mentioned she doesn’t assist educating CRT in faculties. She mentioned the district has a transparency challenge — not as a result of they’re secretly indoctrinating college students — however as a result of they haven’t executed sufficient to counter misinformation about what’s taking place in faculties.
Flittner, an lawyer, mentioned she believes the rumors originated with the Brake, Brown and Sharp marketing campaign.
“I needed to ship their marketing campaign supervisor a stop and desist letter,” she mentioned.
WFYI reached out to the Brake, Brown and Sharp marketing campaign 4 occasions for remark. The marketing campaign didn’t reply to those requests by a Sunday deadline. Their marketing campaign supervisor, Jennifer Hendrix, refuted Flittner’s declare that she was requested to drop out of the race.
“My recollection is that we mentioned how greatest to keep away from splitting the vote, however in the long run, the choice was as much as her and the opposite candidates,” Hendrix wrote in an e-mail.
Hendrix additionally denied spreading rumors about Flittner.
“It’s true she despatched me a stop and desist letter with none proof of wrongdoing, solely rumour and accusations that I spoke unwell of her,” Hendrix wrote.
In a joint campaign video printed on-line, Sharp mentioned: “a vote for us is a vote for full transparency within the college system, educational excellence and a concentrate on parental rights.”
After an e-mail despatched by the Brake, Brown and Sharp marketing campaign on Halloween claimed academics had been indoctrinating college students, Carmel Clay Superintendent Michael Beresford posted a video. Talking into the digital camera, Beresford mentioned a political narrative circulating locally “focusing on academics” is fake and insulting.
How nationwide points outline native college board races
What’s taking place in Carmel will not be distinctive.
“Half of what’s so uncommon about what is going on on proper now could be that the listing of points that is developing in Indiana is developing all around the nation,” mentioned Jon Valant, a senior fellow and director of the Brown Heart on Schooling Coverage on the Brookings Establishment.
Valant mentioned the nationalization of college board elections underneath the banner of fogeys’ rights is a response to school policies related to COVID, in addition to range, fairness and inclusion measures.
Following the Could 2020 homicide of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, some Indiana communities started demanding college leaders address systemic racism and racial disparities in training.
That led to high school districts and constitution faculties issuing anti-racist proclamations and support of the Black Lives Matter motion, auditing the equity of their insurance policies, and amplifying recruitment of Black and Brown educators.
In 2020, candidates for native college boards within the common election made racial fairness a centerpiece of some campaigns. This was a big improvement for Hamilton County, the place Carmel is positioned; candidates for a number of district boards addressed considerations of Black and Brown college students who mentioned they faced racism and bigotry at their majority White faculties.
White college students make up almost 71 p.c of the Carmel Clay inhabitants, adopted by Asian college students at 15 p.c, whereas Black and Hispanic college students every make up about 3.5 p.c of enrollment. In Hamilton County, about 82 p.c of its 100,000 residents are White, in line with the U.S. Census.
Across the similar time, the Trump administration began to target range packages in federal authorities and significant race principle — the decades-old educational framework meant to elucidate how folks of shade are impacted by cultural perceptions of race, inequality and structural racism.
Quickly a fast-paced, nationwide motion of fogeys and right-wing teams started protesting at college board conferences throughout the nation. Academics and directors had been accused of educating CRT within the classroom and pushing radical left-wing ideologies on college students.
Leaders at Carmel Clay and Noblesville faculties tried to push again towards the misinformation, however had been usually met with jeers in public meetings. Leaders at each districts have said they do not teach critical race theory or promote political ideology.
The districts had been among the many almost 900 within the nation who confronted anti-CRT protests between September of 2020 and August of final 12 months, according to a report launched by a College of California, Los Angeles institute.
Earlier this 12 months, Indiana GOP lawmakers adopted a nationwide motion of majority Republican states to introduce laws to ban or restrict the dialogue of race, intercourse and politics within the classroom. However regardless of Indiana’s Republican supermajority, that laws died within the Statehouse as some lawmakers and conservative mother and father disagreed over the invoice’s language.
Valant of the Brookings Establishment mentioned the election of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who campaigned on a platform that emphasised assist for fogeys’ rights, proved the message linked with pissed off and largely conservative voters.
“And it’s a distortion,” Valant mentioned. “You possibly can say that oldsters have a proper to something…It is actually like, at its core, a fairly flimsy thought of fogeys’ rights, nevertheless it’s potent politically.”
And campaigns on mother and father’ rights have included misinformation about what’s happening in faculties.
Opposition to important race principle, alleged indoctrination and grooming of scholars has been used to justify book bans and implement anti-LGBTQ policies. Valant mentioned that’s dangerous to college students.
“I feel if you let these dangerous and harmful concepts fester, they turn into extra harmful, and so they turn into worse, and so they have extra impression,” he mentioned.
Excessive-profile endorsements from Republican leaders
And a few of these races have drawn assist from excessive profile conservative politicians. The Brake, Brown and Sharp marketing campaign in Carmel obtained endorsements from Indiana’s Republican Legal professional Common Todd Rokita and U.S. Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun.
“Republicans see training proper now as a probably successful challenge and a potent marketing campaign challenge, which is uncommon, traditionally,” Valant mentioned. “And proper now, a number of Republicans see a possibility to kind of win races, past simply college board races, however win races for governor, for Congress.”
Laura Merrifield Wilson, affiliate professor of political science on the College of Indianapolis, additionally mentioned these sorts of endorsements are “extremely uncommon” in Indiana.
Wilson mentioned college board races have traditionally been missed by voters attributable to a ignorance and media consideration.
“Oftentimes [voters) can’t identify the incumbents, they may not be able to point to very specific obligations or responsibilities of [school board] members,” she mentioned. “And they’re, that is most necessary, extremely non-partisan.”
Earlier this 12 months, Republican state Rep. J.D. Prescott (R-Union Metropolis) authored a invoice that might require college board candidates to establish with a political get together and embody that designation on the poll. At the moment, candidates can select to volunteer political affiliation of their campaigns.
“Once I take a look at Republicans or Democrats I feel you’ll be able to inform the distinction between monetary accountability and ethical character in some instances,” Prescott mentioned throughout a hearing on the legislation.
The invoice didn’t advance.
However political affiliation has performed a big function within the college board campaigns going down in Hamilton County.
A nationwide tax-exempt group known as Free to Learn Action, which advocates for “school rooms freed from politics and activism,” funds multiple websites that embody the political affiliations of candidates at school board races in Hamilton County. These websites emphasize the political beliefs of candidates registered as Democrats, together with donations they’ve made to organizations like Deliberate Parenthood as a part of on-line fundraisers, in addition to their views on range, fairness and inclusion measures.
Jeffrey Henig, professor of political science and training at Columbia College’s Academics School, mentioned nationwide actors have zeroed in on college boards as a result of they see educating college students about race, gender and sexuality, in addition to COVID insurance policies, as a strategy to encourage voters, particularly suburban swing voters, to solid their ballots for Republicans.
“What’s useful from the standpoint of the nationwide actors is these themes can match collectively in a narrative concerning the abuses and excesses of the liberal left,” Henig mentioned.
Affect from outdoors teams and endorsements from partisan elected officers illustrate that a lot of the dialog in these races is about nationwide points.
“And I feel it oversimplifies for voters what is going on on of their specific college district, and what’s necessary to their native communities. And it is offering a false sense of common actuality,” Wilson of the College of Indianapolis mentioned.
Henig mentioned a lot of what’s mentioned and determined upon by college board members has little to do with nationwide politics.
“I do assume we must be involved when extremely polarized nationwide debates get injected into native arenas, and pull communities aside that had labored pretty effectively collectively and harmoniously when points had been framed when it comes to native questions like, ‘do we want a brand new highschool?’ ‘Is that this principal or this superintendent efficient?’,” Henig mentioned.
Henig mentioned the nationalization of college board races may result in much less compromise and extra dysfunction and polarization.
College board members don’t oversee the day-to-day operations of a faculty company, however fairly present oversight. They’re additionally chargeable for hiring the superintendent, approving the finances and creating insurance policies for workers and college students.
Annoyed mother and father push again
Diane Hannah, a Carmel Clay dad or mum, is worried by the outsize affect nationwide politics have had in her native college board race.
“These nationwide politicians have extra of a voice in our native faculties than the precise mother and father who’ve precise children within the faculties,” Hannah mentioned. “That does not make sense to me”
Hannah, a Democrat, moved to Carmel as a result of the varsity district had made a dedication to range, fairness and inclusion. She mentioned the varsity company has an extended strategy to go, however she’s happy with the progress.
Final college 12 months, Hannah mentioned her son got here residence from kindergarten and mentioned “I don’t need to be Jewish, as a result of all Jews are liars.”
“That was not a cheerful second,” mentioned Hannah, who’s Jewish. However she mentioned she was pleased with the way in which her son’s trainer addressed the difficulty. She mentioned her son’s trainer shared how she was going to debate a number of winter holidays and confirmed her the classroom materials she would use in these classes.
“However Carmel has points, and the academics want to have the ability to communicate freely to appropriate these issues,” Hannah mentioned.
Hannah now volunteers for a political motion group, Help CCS, that helps a slate of candidates who agree that the district ought to proceed its range, fairness and inclusion efforts. These candidates are: incumbent Jennifer Nelson-Williams (District 2), Kristin L. Kouka (District 1) and Jake Nichols (District 3).
Two different candidates not a part of a joint marketing campaign are additionally working for the board: Sheldon Barnes (District 1) and Lori Lengthy (District 2).
Hannah mentioned she and different mother and father are pissed off by misinformed claims that Carmel Clay academics are indoctrinating college students. However Hannah mentioned that frustration has led to motion.
“Individuals are speaking to their neighbors. Individuals who’ve by no means been political earlier than, who’ve by no means talked about an election earlier than, are knocking on their neighbor’s doorways and saying, ‘Hey, I do know, you recognize, possibly you do not have children within the college district. However here is what is going on on. And might you please vote on this election? As a result of we want as many votes as potential.’”
Hannah and Stephanie Flittner, the Republican mother working for the Carmel Clay college board, don’t align politically. However Flittner agrees that nationwide political speaking factors and misinformation shouldn’t be part of native college board elections.
“What I’d name that may be a low cost tactic to fearmonger into votes. And as a conservative, I am not OK with that,” Flittner mentioned.
The midterm election is Tuesday, Nov 8.
2022 Carmel Clay College Board election candidates:
District 1
Sheldon Barnes
Jenny Brake
Stephanie Flittner
Kristin L. Kouka
District 2
Lori Lengthy
Jennifer Nelson-Williams
Adam Sharp
District 3
Greg Brown
Jake Nichols
Contact WFYI training reporter Lee V. Gaines at lgaines@wfyi.org. Observe on Twitter: @LeeVGaines.
WFYI training editor Eric Weddle contributed to this story.
