About a year ago, for the very first episode of this show, I spoke with two moms who were running for election to their local school board.

People who were new to activism, but became part of a post-pandemic backlash against public schools.

And at one point, one of them, Amy Kovie from Lansing, Kansas, told me she was bothered by some of the books her kid was

encountering at school.

It was, this book is anti-racist, and it had clear CRT, you know, ideas in that book.

Yeah, I think this is the book by Tiffany Jewell, and the full title is 20 lessons on how to

wake up, take action, and do the work.

It's very much an activist book on how to teach your child, you know, to do that in different ways.

And which part of it to you is the most objectionable? Well, it was a partisan book that the country is

inherently racist and formed on racist ideals and that if you're not

anti-racist, that you're racist. I mean, it was a very strong book. What I want is to keep that

out of the classroom. Now, conservative groups like Moms for Liberty, the 1776 Project,

and others, well, they've made huge gains pouring money into school board races to back candidates

like these guests.

And the culture war issues they were focused on, nixing DEI programs, opposing trans

rights, challenging books they found offensive.

Well, that spread to school districts nationwide.

After that episode aired, a listener named Michelle Jarrett, who's part of an association of librarians in Florida,

called in and left us this message. Everything that has been happening in Florida with our school

boards and with our parental rights bills has directly affected what's happening in school libraries

and in many cases in decreasing access to literature for with our parental rights bills has directly affected what's happening in school libraries,

and in many cases in decreasing access to literature for students across the state.

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