Many of us are feeling a sense of helplessness about the results of the last election. With two years left until midterms and four years until we can vote for a new president, there’s a fear that there’s nothing to do but wait and see what destruction this new administration will bring.
From his unqualified cabinet appointments to his stated plan to declare a national emergency in order to deport immigrants, Trump is sending a clear message that he intends to rattle the very foundations of democracy.
For those of us with school-aged children, the attacks on education are particularly alarming. Trump’s insistence on eradicating the Board of Education has only amplified since his last presidency.
“We will have one person plus a secretary, and all the person has to do is [ask schools], are you teaching English?,” Trump said at an October campaign stop in Milwaukee. “Are you teaching arithmetic? What are you doing? Reading, writing and arithmetic, and are you not teaching woke? Not teaching woke is a very big factor, but we’ll have a very small staff.”
Beyond his attacks on the Board of Education, Trump has also pushed for universal school choice, which would allow parents to use public funding to send their children to K-12 schools other than their assigned neighborhood school. While School choice may sound good in theory, the reality is that funneling tax payer money into often underperforming private and charter schools benefits corporations, while not offering any clear educational benefits and even sometimes rejecting already marginalized students.
In school board meetings, we are likely to hear GOP talking points such as “parental rights” and “woke” curriculum getting pushed to the forefront as an emboldened GOP seeks a turn back the clock to more conservative days.
For those of us here in Central Bucks, these attacks on public schools are nothing new. In 2021, Moms For Liberty aligned school board directors turned our district upside down with their extremist policies. Not only did the prior board target marginalized students, ban books, and secretly allow right-wing Christian groups to influence policy, they also wasted a great deal of taxpayer money on unnecessary lawyer fees, a PR firm to spin their unpopular policies, and inflated salary boosts to our now-disgraced superintendent.
Through a lot of hard work and advocacy, our community rebuffed the extremism of Moms For Liberty and replaced our historically Republican school board with an 6 to 3 Democrat majority in 2023 (which turned into an 8 to 1 majority when two of the remaining Republicans resigned).
And then came the 2024 election…
It’s important to note that while Trump won Bucks by a mere 292 votes, if you zoom in to our Central Bucks community, things look a lot different. In fact, Harris actually won by 5.7 points in CBSD. Meaning, there is no mandate for MAGA policies in our local schools.
In fact, the opposite is true.
CBSD voters clearly preferred Democratic policies in this election.
Over the past year, our new Democrat-majority CBSD board has made great strides in undoing the damage created by the previous board and moving towards schools that truly serve all children. The most obvious changes have come in the meetings themselves. While the previous board was in office, board meetings often devolved into disarray with Directors failing to contain the unruly attendees and often inciting chaos themselves as they lashed out at community members – if not dissenting board members.
All of that changed after the 2023 election. No more does CBSD make national news for harmful policies, corrupt leadership, or political circuses. Instead, our current board has engaged in open discussions and steady progress. Some of the key accomplishments of this new board are:
– Selecting and hiring a highly qualified superintendent
– Planning for the long-anticipated grade alignment which will move 6th grade to middle school and 9th grade to high school
– Initiating six pioneer schools for full day Kindergarten implementation
– Creating new Bus Safety Program to help keep students safer
– Sharing Board Briefs after every general meeting to keep the community informed and engaged
– Supporting student-led effort to get period products in all secondary school bathrooms
– Commissioning a Belonging survey to help better understand students’ perceptions of acceptance, respect and support in their schools.
– Revising controversial policies in a slow and deliberate manner, allowing time for all stakeholders to be involved
– Conducting In-depth analysis of building conditions and working on a viable plan for our school buildings for the next half century
Unfortunately, all of the progress we’ve made in the last year is at risk under the Trump administration. Many education policies fall under federal jurisdiction and it is likely our district will face a lot of obstacles in the coming years.
At the last School Board Meeting, Vice President Heather Reynolds indicated the board’s willingness to take on these challenges for the betterment of our students.
“We’re aware of the national attention around initiatives like Project 2025 which could pose risks to the Department of Education and the way we educate and support our children right here in Central Bucks. So we’re here to defend the integrity of our public schools and the well being of our children, regardless of changes in state or federal directives and supports.” Reynolds said.
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“Our commitment is to ensure that our schools remain places where every child has the chance to thrive and no matter what, will continue to work with you, our families, our educators, administrators, community partners, to hold up the values that define and strengthen our district.” she added.
For those of us feeling a sense of frustration about waiting for the next national elections, the school board race will be an opportunity to ensure that the four available positions will be filled by candidates who value public education and will put our children’s best interests first.
2025 is around the corner and the work begins now.
Check out CBSD Neighbors United to find out how to get more involved.
