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As children across the country start the new school year, many are finding gaps and spaces on their school's bookshelves where right-wing book bans have made their mark.
"Overwhelmingly, book banners continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals," according to a report by free speech advocacy group PEN America.
This summer, 90% of PCCC survey respondents said they are very concerned about right-wing control over school boards. 88% listed banning books as one of the top 3 issues they are concerned about.
That's why thousands of people are helping defeat right-wing extremism in schools by donating to the PCCC’s national Save Our School Boards campaign to equip hundreds of low-budget school board candidates with training, resources, and money to defeat extremists in 2024.
Can you donate $3 or more to this important program? Click here.
ABC News reports the PCCC is leading the charge to fight back: "The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) launched the 'Save Our School Boards' campaign to boost more than 200 aligned school board candidates in the upcoming cycle."
Politico reports that the "Save Our School Boards" initiative from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is also intended to serve as a liberal attempt to create a national school board slate.
The American Prospect adds that "PCCC's 'Save Our School Boards' campaign is to give progressive candidates the tools they need to not only stand up to right-wing extremism, but also to learn how to run successful campaigns and implement a progressive agenda."
In recent years we've helped hundreds of local candidates -- including school board wins like Missy Zombor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Katrina Doughty in Multnomah County, Oregon.
Missy told ABC News why this campaign is so important: "School Board campaigns are some of the most polarizing and difficult political campaigns right now and they are often run by brand-new candidates with little to no campaigning experience. Learning how to build a budget, obtain your voter file, communicate with the media, and prepare for everything else along the way can be daunting."
Karl Frisch is a Fairfax, Virginia school board member who is running for re-election in November with PCCC’s support. Frisch told The American Prospect, "[PCCC’s] candidate training really helped flesh out what to do, and [how] to run an effective campaign that gets my message in front of the voters I need to win."
We anticipate our program will cost $450,000. Our resources will guide first-time school board candidates through gathering petition signatures, creating a campaign plan, budgeting, building a grassroots army, and more.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- Hannah Riddle, PCCC Director of Candidate Services
P.S. If you're running for school board, apply for resources and campaign help here.
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