Christ is King,” announced signs in Dutchess County last spring. “Anthony Ciro DiLullo, WCSD Board. Vote May 17th.” He and a slate of far-right candidates running for school board were campaigning on “parents’ rights.” Some were endorsed by a local chapter of Moms for...
In The Press
School censorship is not democratic. Speaking up is the solution.
Thankfully, some of that is already happening. Around the country, groups like Red Wine and Blue (that’s really its name) have challenged school board candidates sponsored by Moms for Liberty. Most of all, it has rallied parents to support history — and to fight...
How to Fight the Right’s Moral Panic Over Parental Rights
In 2021, the progressive grassroots women’s group Red Wine and Blue was suddenly fielding urgent calls from all over the country. Women in Ohio, Michigan, Texas, and North Carolina all had the same question: What is happening at my school board? The stories were...
Op-Ed: Instead of villainizing women, let’s ask why someone would want an abortion
When I was in college, a friend confided in me that she had an abortion after being raped at a party. That’s the moment I knew I was pro-choice. Up until then, I had never really thought about where I stood on the issue of abortion. That wasn’t something that was...
Williamson County mom helps launch national campaign pushing back on ‘parents rights’ groups
Williamson County parent and advocate Revida Rahman has linked arms with a national campaign organizing parents against what they call "extremists trying to control what our families and kids believe, read and learn." The campaign, dubbed "Freedom to Parent 21st...
The Book-Bans Debate Has Finally Reached a Turning Point
Across multiple fronts, Democrats and their allies are stiffening their resistance to a surge of Republican-led book bans. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the past month have conspicuously escalated their denunciations of the book bans...
Granddaughter of longtime U.S. senator hopes to reverse legacy of anti-abortion policies
Ellen Gaddy, the granddaughter of former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, was raised in a conservative family, in the shadow of a man who championed an agenda that included fierce opposition to Roe v. Wade and any effort to compromise on the issue of abortion. For Gaddy,...
Op-Ed: How in good conscience can Rep. Tricia Cotham deny NC residents the abortion access she had?
Republicans in North Carolina have passed a sweeping abortion bill that further restricts access to abortion care — a bill filled with medical misinformation, misdirection and false narratives about abortion. In practice, it will ban medication abortion after 10...
Op-Ed: Lessons for Becoming a Public Scholar
Academics at many colleges and universities today face an uncertain future. Rising tuition and falling enrollments, the lack of tenure-track positions, the dwindling student interest in the humanities in favor of business and STEM degrees, and growing questions about...
What are local schools doing for student safety?
The list is long, as are our memories, of youths who have been victims of school shootings. And as the public cries for a solution become deafening, it is left to school districts and law enforcement to fortify schools with what amounts to bandaids as prevention as...
Recent Posts
Watch This: The Right to Read is Under Attack
We are proud to be one of more than 200 organizations and tens of thousands of individuals who make up the American Library Association's Unite Against Book Bans. Together, we’re helping our communities advocate for the freedom to read. On April 7, 2025, we’re...
Read This: A New Era of Fighting Book Bans
In a few weeks, we’ll celebrate Right to Read Day as part of National Library Week. National Library Week celebrates how reading and libraries enrich our lives and communities. It started in the 1950s over concerns that Americans were reading less and spending more...
Do This: Get Your Copy of the Costs of Conflict Report!
We’ve learned that extremism cost our public schools $3.2 billion last year. Now we’re also seeing that President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon fully intend to defund and destroy the U.S. Department of Education entirely. That means our public schools...
Watch This: The Costs of Conflict
A new research report found that extremist attacks on schools and teachers — from book bans to new laws controlling what is taught about race and history — cost our public schools $3.2 billion last year alone! Watch this short video to hear directly from one of the...
Read This: The Costs of Conflict
Between 2021 and 2024, more than 300 bills were introduced in state legislatures to ban books, restrict schools from teaching about race and racism, and set restrictive policies for LGBTQ+ students. It’s all part of an extremist effort to attack our public schools...