Last night was the culmination of a community-led reform to take back our public schools from the social engineers and propaganda pushers who for too long have had free reign over the minds of our children.
I take comfort in knowing that none of this happened by accident. It was in fact a deliberate course of action that can be replicated in any community across Texas, so long as there are enough people willing to take a stand and take the heat that comes with it.
Reform began, as they all must, with the people. For so long, parents, guardians, and taxpayers sat back as their district slipped further and further away from their values and priorities. I was one of them. But we all have a breaking point—that moment of no return where you commit fully to doing something to make a change for the better.
So many of us reached that breaking point within the last several years. We started paying closer attention. We started organizing. We started showing up. They say, “government is run by those who show up,” and it could not be more accurate for our public schools. Take note.
But we were not embraced. In fact, we were maligned and pushed aside. The old guard felt they knew better than we did and why shouldn’t they? They were in control. They had won elections.
So we got serious about changing that. From our ranks, leaders stepped up to run for office. Leaders who understood that no one loses power willingly—that our character would be assassinated; that our names would be dragged through the mud. They would try to intimate us. Silence us. Frankly, they just tried to bully us.
But we pushed through and with the support of this community we upended the power structure—no longer were we petitioning our local government for redress of our grievances; we took control of our local government on a promise to address those grievances. It has been said that first you must build the army and then you can deploy it, and that is exactly what we did. We engaged this community and this community turned out when it mattered—to win elections for candidates of change.
It did not happen overnight, but in short order, we won enough elections to form a new majority. One that is responsive to the community and its needs and desires. We were no longer trying to influence the agenda. Now we were setting it.
What we achieved last night is the fulfillment of the promise of so much work by the people, but more importantly, it is the sustaining element of this revolution. Boards come and go. Elected officials retire or are retired by the voters. Policy endures.
By simply having a sane majority, we ensured nothing other than stopping the bleeding. We had to pass real meaningful reforms that fiercely addressed the issues this community cared about to truly turn this ship, and that is exactly what we have done.
If you are reading this from a community in which your local school board is more concerned with pushing their beliefs and worldview on your children than educating them, please know there truly is hope.
There are allies in your community. Engage them, organize them, and lead them. Win elections. It may not happen in one try, but do not relent and keep working to elect likeminded trustees until you have a governing majority. And when you have control, do not rest on your political victories—it is policy victories that will change the lives of your children.
It can be done. Last night is evidence of that. And we are just getting started. Keep the faith and fight the fight. We’re all with you.