A war on merit and excellence

Description:

Changing the names of schools, instituting race-based affinity groups, and eliminating standardized tests are just a few of the actions that woke boards of education across the country are taking in pursuit of equity. The result is that schools are now focused on everything but academic instruction.

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Nicole Neily, president and founder of Parents Defending Education (PDE). She says that lawsuits in places like northern Virginia and the suburbs of Boston, not to mention the school board recall in San Francisco, signify that even liberal progressives are fed up with performative wokeness that favors optics over outcomes. Nicole believes this movement of parental power is just getting started, and she encourages parents to continue pushing for transparency when it comes to their child’s education.

Resources:

• Judge calls Thomas Jefferson High admissions changes illegal | Hannah Natanson | Washington Post

• Parents prevail over K-12 ‘bias incidents’ | The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board

• In landslide, San Francisco forces out 3 board of education members | Thomas Fuller | The New York Times

• Power to parents | Deseret News | Ian Rowe

• Parents Defending Education resources

Show notes:

• 02:26 | What is PDE and what recent lawsuits have they been involved with?

• 08:20 | Elite programs aren’t helpful if students are not properly prepared to succeed

• 12:15 | The San Francisco school board recall reflect the sentiments of parents across the county?

• 15:30 | Breaking down the PDE’s lawsuit against Wellesley Public Schools

• 18:40 | Can the parental power movement sustain over time?