• 1954: Anti-public education rhetoric stretches back to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which provides helpful context on the intentions accompanying these attacks and the role of vouchers and some charter school programs. (AP News) (Forbes) (AU)

• 1964: The Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in public places, schools, and employment. 

• 1970: The Blaine Amendment prohibits government funding for private, religious schools because they allow unconstitutional discrimination. Michigan's is noted as being one of the tightest to work around. (Education Next)

• 1972: Title IX of the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by Richard Nixon, prohibiting federally funded institutions from denying students the right to participate in educational or athletic programs on the basis of sex. Each administration after that proposes various changes to Title IX. (US Courts)

• 1976: Michigan passes the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to prohibit discriminatory practices, policies, and customs in the exercise of those rights based upon religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status.

• 1987: Michigan launches more locally focused think tanks to build upon organizations like The Heritage Foundation (1973). Some can be traced to several players involved with Proposal A and the attacks we're seeing today. (DeSmog)

• 1994: Controversial legislation approving Michigan's first charter schools is signed into law. (Charter Library)

• 1994: Culminating the longtime debate over Michigan's school district inequities, funding, and outcomes, "Proposal A" passes to help create fairer "per pupil" funding by swapping local property taxes for a percentage of the state's sales tax revenue to be spread across all districts. The state still expects districts to generate the financing of their structures, operating, and transportation costs at the ballot through bonds (homeowners) and millages (non-homestead property owners). As a result, significant disparities and education gaps still affect the state's performance. (Michigan Radio)

• 2000: Privatization activists and think tanks developed strategies to eliminate public education. They handed Proposal 1 to Michigan voters, who overwhelmingly rejected the opportunity to implement education vouchers that would deplete public school funds. (Ballotpedia)

• 2002: Architects addressed the proposal's defeat in a speech to The Heritage Foundation, explaining that vouchers are crucial to eliminating public education and how the next campaign will need to appear more locally organized...like it was the idea of moms chatting over coffee.

• 2016: One of the most vocal advocates for these foundations, privatization, charters, and abolishing public education, assumes the role of the head of America's Secretary of Education.

• 2020: National developments include some of the most politically and socially charged periods in American history
• The Trump administration and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivered on their promise to change Title IX, governing how schools respond to sexual misconduct. Their regulations more narrowly defined sexual harassment to strengthen protections for the accused and directed schools to conduct live hearings to allow those who were accused of sexual harassment or assault to cross-examine their accusers. (The Washington Post)
• Title IX only applies to private schools that receive federal funding or programs supported by federal funding. This is significant because private religious schools that accept education vouchers require access to federal funding. However, private schools discriminate against applicants and enrolled students based on protected areas of Title IX and the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Rolling back the protections helps alleviate burdens on private religious schools.

• 2021: National developments begin to aggressively vilify public schools, with a particular emphasis on diversity and LGBTQIA students
• Capitalizing on the "lightning in a bottle" energy of the lingering pandemic, a bored population craving connection, societal unrest, and must-win elections for many governors, Moms for Liberty launched in Florida, materializing the promises made in the 2002 speech to The Heritage Foundation.
• The "grassroots" group of moms launched with a mission to fight for parental rights at all levels of government. They begin attending school board meetings with impressive branding, matching t-shirts, and invitations to create a chapter in every community nationwide for a $95 membership fee. Chapter leaders are given opportunities to appear with candidates, lead protests at capitol buildings and school board meetings, and establish criteria to endorse school board candidates. It's an MLM model for privatization.
• Notably, Moms for Liberty members establish a tagline to call themselves "Joyful Warriors in the fight for parental rights in education." School board meeting temperatures soon match the mantra.
• Other think tanks, like the Manhattan Institute, Cato Institute, and The Daily Wire, explicitly outline their efforts to reach a broader population with fear-based fallacies about what's happening inside our schools, targeting anything with an acronym. (Support FHPS)

• 2021: Michigan sees three new ploys to support privatization, focusing on the gubernatorial race, lawsuits, and a voucher-like ballot proposal
• May 2021: Announcements in Michigan's gubernatorial race begin, including Tudor Dixon, first introduced by the governor who signed Proposal A into law and inspired the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. (The Detroit Free Press)
• September 2021: The Mackinac Center for Public Policy's legal arm filed a federal court case, Hile v. Michigan to revisit the legality of using public funds for private religious education. (Education Next)
• November 2021: Parties involved with the think tank and its case launch petitions for a new DeVos voucher program called Let Mi Kids Learn (WLNS). In light of Title IX, the Blaine Amendment, and the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, Let Mi Kids Learn highlights opportunities for private corporations to contribute to "Student Opportunity Scholarships" for tax credits that would encourage and attract a specific demographic of lower-income students into charter schools. Paid petition circulators targeted lower-income and minority citizens, deliberately lying about the opportunities for "inner city students," "disabled kids," and others to get scholarships to learn to "read better." (Bridge Michigan) (MLive)
• Michigan experiences a skyrocketing increase in efforts to recall local school boards by "grassroots" groups who say we need to save America by rebuilding it from the ground up, starting with our schools (Ballotpedia). Highly motivated recall leaders travel to meetings in other areas of the state to share their experiences, strategies, and encouragement and begin campaigning with Dixon, the Moms for Liberty-supporting gubernatorial candidate. (The Detroit News)
• A plaintiff in the Hile v. Michigan case establishes local school board attack groups that use similar complaints, with messaging that underscores the failing Michigan public school system with many of the same proof points that Moms for Liberty uses. They heavily promote Let Mi Kids Learn.
• Michigan sees more "grassroots" groups launch with models similar to Moms for Liberty, focused on recalling their school boards or restoring parental rights. Many pique initial interest with red-herring issues about their school districts but keep members focused on topics like fighting "CRT," "DEI," and LGBTQIA students, as outlined by the Manhattan Institute and Moms for Liberty. (MLive)
• The Moms for Liberty gubernatorial candidate campaigns on a platform of protecting "parental rights," removing any discussion of diversity and gender from public schools, and advocacy for Let Mi Kids Learn. (Bridge Michigan)
• December 2021: School board meetings across the state navigate heated meetings, threats of violence, and an influx of Freedom of Information Act requests to search for evidence of CRT. In Kent County, a parental rights group hosted a "Christmas Miracle" BBQ event on December 21, encouraging residents in two adjacent school districts to sign petitions for board recalls and Let Mi Kids Learn, highlighting guest speakers, including parental rights politicians charged with trespassing during the January 6 insurrection. (Michigan Advance)

• 2022: National developments
• July: Moms for Liberty hosts a national summit, collecting registration from attendees, and awards Ron DeSantis a "Liberty Sword." (Salon)
  
• Ten years after promises made in The Heritage Foundation speech, and with millions of dollars propping them up, Moms for Liberty earned recognition from The Heritage Foundation for "empowering mothers to fight for the survival of America and defend their parental rights at all levels of government."
• This subtle language and related backlash about DEI programs elevates dialogue about these attacks being rooted in fears about "The Great Replacement Theory." (PBS)

• 2022: Michigan developments
• March: The Mackinac Center and its blog, Michigan Capitol Confidential, publish articles about FOIA's and partner with other potential plaintiffs to join in lawsuits (Fox & Friends)
• April: The Let Mi Kids Learn campaign hosts a pre-recorded call for support with Ron DeSantis (CNBC)
• July: Michigan's Supreme Court rules to expand the scope of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act in Michigan to include LGBTQIA protections (sexual orientation and gender identity) to the list of individuals protected from discrimination or discrimination from access to federally funded programs and education opportunities.
• November: The Moms for Liberty candidate and Let Mi Kids Learn initiative fail in Michigan (Chalkbeat)
• A new group called Great Education Initiative launches in Michigan to provide anti-LGBTQIA+ legal support and "opt-out" forms for districts. (Popular Information)

Big lie alert: In May 2021, stories emerged from the gubernatorial battleground area of Loudon County, Virginia, that a transgender student raped another in a school bathroom. This story made its way to school board meeting comments in Michigan and initiated sensationalized claims about the risks of Title IX changes. A judge has unsealed this case, and evidence that the student was transgender has not been proven. (NBC Washington) The Title IX restrictions implemented by the prior administration inhibited the investigation and resulted in a $30 million lawsuit for failing to protect and adequately investigate the assault. (Associated Press).To date, there have been no reports of transgender individuals assaulting others in bathrooms in Michigan or elsewhere.

• 2023: Michigan developments
• March: The expanded Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act protections are signed into law (State of Michigan)
• May: The ELCRA bans discrimination based on “sex” to include discrimination based on pregnancy, nursing, termination of pregnancy or a medical condition related to the termination of a pregnancy. (State of Michigan)
• June: The ELCRA also bans discrimination based on “race” to include “hair texture and protective hairstyles.” (State of Michigan)
• November: The Sixth Court of Michigan upholds the state's Blaine Amendment and rules against plaintiffs of Hile v. Michigan.

• 2024: National developments
• The Biden Administration rolls back Trump-era changes to Title IX, overseen by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Those regulations narrowly defined sexual harassment and directed schools to conduct live hearings to allow those who were accused of sexual harassment or assault to cross-examine their accusers. (AceNet)
• Moms for Liberty files a lawsuit in Kentucky, requesting that any current or future club members and multiple other groups be exempt from the Title IX changes. The Trump-appointed judge approves the Injunction. Moms for Liberty pushes a membership drive, asking people to add as many new members as possible and to list the names of their kids' schools so that schools are once again buried in administrative and legal red tape. Moms for Liberty asks if they can exempt any county (800+) where a member resides from Title IX, which the judge denies. (NBC)

• 2024: Michigan developments
• As the Moms for Liberty case gains attention, local chapters crowd Michigan school board meetings to beg them not to allow boys to enter girls' bathrooms, even though the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act amendment of 2023 has already been in place to cover this issue. Local membership drives grow, as does the list of Michigan schools added to Moms for Liberty's "exemption" log they send bi-weekly to support their court case. (Detroit Free Press)
• Read our Fallacy explainer on Title IX.
• More lawsuits against Michigan school districts, including a 31-count federal suit filed by a Moms for Liberty member with a former candidate for attorney general who is facing calls for disbarment due to a high volume of frivolous suits (Lowell's First Look)
• Court documents remind all parties that the definition of "parental rights" in education (commonly referred to as MCL 380.10) has been decided in past cases:
• "While parents may have a fundamental right to decide whether to send their child to a public school, they do not have a fundamental right generally to direct how a public school teaches their child. Whether it is the school curriculum, the hours of the school day, school discipline, the timing and content of examinations, the individuals hired to teach at the school, the extracurricular activities offered at the school, or a dress code, these issues of public education are generally 'committed to the control of state and local authorities.'" - Blau v. Fort Thomas Public Schools 
• Hile v. Michigan is appealed to the United States Supreme Court, where a conservative majority appointed by the administration that advocated for abolishing the Department of Education, privatization, and reduced Title IX protections will potentially hear and decide it. (SCOTUS Blog)

Partisan efforts to privatize education, disrupt public schools, steer our administrators off-track, and make culture war issues part of school board campaigns are precisely why it is so critically important to maintain objectivity in our schools. The Michigan Association of School Boards was organized in 1949 to advance the quality of public education in our state, promote high standards in providing educational programs, help school board members keep informed about education issues, represent the interests of boards of education, and promote public understanding about school boards and citizen involvement in our schools.

"The goal of having nonpartisan elections is not to remove all politics from governing, but rather to remove a conflict point that keeps the school board from doing its job. Conflict on a governing board is productive when it leads to informed debate and reasoned decision-making. Conflict is destructive when it becomes entrenched or predictable, regardless of the issue being discussed. Compromise becomes impossible when every substantive debate devolves into an existential debate over ideological superiority."

Michael R. Ford, Associate Professor of Public Administration at the UW-Oshkosh

Source: Governing.com