for The Hill

Buoyed by recent gains in Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans see an opportunity to win back suburban voters by stoking public anger at what’s happening in their public schools. A Fox News headline says it all: “Parents across US revolt against school boards on masks, critical race theory and gender issues. 

While Fox’s claim is typically hyperbolic, the issue of parental control over kids’ education did loom large in Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory over Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest. Since GOP strategists view it as the template for next year’s midterm elections, K-12 schools seemed destined to become the new central front in the nation’s culture wars.

Around the country, riled-up parents are storming normally soporific school board meetings and targeting members for online abuse and threats. In Washington, Republicans have cobbled together a “parental bill of rights” to campaign on next year. Teacher unions and their political allies call for a counter-mobilization to win school board races around the country.