IRONY: MSNBC Worries GOP Is ‘Politicizing’ School Boards

In the ultimate of ironies of all ironies, MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace and two of her guests spent an entire segment Thursday’s Deadline for White House Republicans were accused of politicizing public school boards throughout the United States. In the segment, Wallace openly panicked that Republicans will continue using what she described as “education wars” that were weaponized against Democrats in Virginia as a playbook in the 2022 Midterm Elections. 

Wallace promoted a Politico piece that reported on legislation that Republicans in Florida are supporting to “create new primary school board elections and allow party affiliations to appear on ballots.”  She also speculated that Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis could use newly created school boards to ban mask mandates.

After those wildly speculative comments, she brought in MSNBCer turned Politico White House editor, Sam Stein to whine about how Republicans made school boards in America political, even alluding to the school board controversies in Virginia which made headlines earlier this summer.

Stein even repeated the lie that Critical Race Theory isn’t taught or applied in public K-12 schools, which has been debunked numerous times. Stein also stated his belief that the controversy over Critical Race Theory in schools “became galvanizing issues for Republicans”:

For example, Critical Race Theory does not get taught in elementary school. However, this is what got Republican and grassroots really excited and jazzed. The natural expression of that is to take that energy and use it for these elections.

Continuing with his hypocritical fearmongering, Stein concluded that because Republicans had electoral success in Virginia, we’re going to see “school curriculums change. You’re going to see laws around or policies around mask mandates change.”

Also, he predicted that the alleged politicization by school boards will lead to “things around inoculations, not just for Covid but for other things become flashpoint issues too so it’s again, it’s the hyper politicization of things down to the granular level here.”  

After those comments, it was MSNBC contributor Errin Haines’ turn. She started off by predicting that “parent’s rights” would be a so-called “buzzword” in 2022, she also alleged the ongoing classroom culture wars over Critical Race Theory is a “playbook that taps into (…) white suburban voters’ fears, as a way to mobilize them to the polls.” 

Haines then pointed out that legislation was passed in Arizona, Missouri and Florida, which would allow school board members to indicate their party affiliation on the election ballot. She also fearmongered over a bill in Oklahoma that allows parents to request schools remove certain offensive books, and if they don’t the school can be sued within 30 days from the request. Haines forgot to mention that only sexually explicit books can be removed by parents. 

Wallace jumped in to ask in an exasperated voice to ask “why don’t the Democrats seize the mantle of being the party for parent’s rights?” Argument that Democrats do a better job on education issues than Republicans.

At the end of the segment, Stein reemerged to soothe MSNBC’s viewer’s fears by assuring them that he thinks “there’s a likelihood that there is some overreach here on the Republican side of the aisle.”

It’s beyond hypocritical to claim that Republicans are the ones who are “politicizing” school boards in America, especially when the left were the ones who made the public school curriculum political in the first place. Democrats can’t insist on shoving propaganda like the 1619 Project down the throats of children, and not expect parents to fight back.  

This segment features a MSNBC host with her leftist friends trying to make America believe that Conservatives are those who politicize school boards. It was brought to us by Hyundai Tylenol.Your information can be linked to theirs so that you may let them about biased news. 

To read the relevant transcript of this segment click “expand”:

Deadline for White House

12/30/21 

5.26.12 pm

NICOLE WALKACE: Republicans look to a new front which could intensify the conflict over education in 2021. This would make their campaign on the topic even more controversial and divisive for next year’s midterm election. Politico explores legislation the Republicans are pushing, which could give their party more control over public schools. A coalition of conservative leaders calls for the election of school boards to be held on each cycle as part of its broad efforts to eradicate Critical Race Theory. In Florida, GOP legislators are pushing for a bill to establish new primary school boards and permit party affiliations on the ballots. As Politico puts it, if Florida Republicans succeed in restoring partisan elections, it could break the last holdouts who regularly defy Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has used every resource available to him to ban mask mandates in schools and is now promoting legislation to allow parents to sue if Critical Race Theory is taught in their children’s classrooms. We’re back with Sam Stein and Errin Haines. This is Sam’s Politico reporting. Let me know more.

SAM STEIN, POLICICO WHITE HOUSE EDITOR: I think that it is a great example of the way everything has become so politicized. This goes down to the local election and school board elections. In the run-up to Virginia’s Gubernatorial Elections, we witnessed that critical race theory, school curriculum and local election were all flashpoints. These issues became a powerful issue for Republicans. You know that some of the information was not grounded in fact. For example, Critical Race Theory was not taught in elementary school. However, this is what got Republican and grassroots really excited and jazzed. The natural result of that enthusiasm is to apply that energy to these elections. So what’s the result? The result will be, as you can see, a change in school curriculums. There will be changes in laws and policies regarding mask mandates. You could see things around inoculations, not just for Covid but for other things become flashpoint issues too so it’s again, it’s the hyper politicization of things down to the granular level here. 

WALLACE: Errin, it’s so disturbing. Sam is so brilliant. I wish I could stop him, but it was too much to interfere with his flow.

STEIN, Thank You. 

WALLACE: Reality. WALLACE: Reality. It was successful but not grounded in reality. This could be the summation of much of Republican political philosophy. Attacks on vaccines. Two new studies have shown that the Covid vaccines are safe for children aged 5-11. However, only 14% of the children aged 5-11 have received Covid vaccines. Another problem was distant school in Virginia. You can’t spread disinformation regarding vaccinations if you want children to stay in school. How do you unravel the lies, then go on the offensive, when both sides are so deeply rooted in nonreality?

ERRIN HAINES: I think so. For the other side, it is their offense. And this will be their offense in the near future. Nicole, although I don’t make any political predictions, I will make one now. Parent’s rights is going to be a buzzword for 2022. And you know, while it’s important to note that classroom culture wars are really nothing new and have been part of a divisive yet effective kind of partisan playbook that taps into some, not all, white suburban voters’ fears, as a way to mobilize them to the polls, parenting and parent’s rights is absolutely going to be politicized in 2022. School boards are something that has been in the realm of school officials and local education reporters for a long time. However, we will need to re-learn our skills and get back to basics as this is where the real battle will be fought during the midterm elections. Statehouse reporters should be aware that this will be a major social issue lawmakers will focus on during their next sessions. 

It’s already happening, as you said at the top. Tennessee’s allowing school board candidates to list their party affiliations on the ballot. Arizona, Missouri, Florida and other states are considering similar legislation. It is a problem that school libraries will be impacted by these measures. Not just in schools, it’s about education in general. But libraries can be a valuable resource that helps fill the gap between what public schooling leaves and what is available in our nation’s past. This is why libraries should also be on the radar. 

There’s a bill out of Oklahoma that I hope people have seen and I know that has been written about at MSNBC that allows parents who believe that their child’s school is carrying a book that they don’t like to submit a written request to remove that book, and once the school gets the request, they have 30 days to remove the book, and for every day that that book is not removed, there’s a $10,000 fine for that school, and the parent can seek compensation for the attorney’s fees and court costs. I mean, you know, this is, this is something that Republicans are seeing as effective, that galvanizes their folks, but I think it’s also why it’s important to continue to have — while we’re having the conversation about parents rights, we need to be talking to all parents and not just the parents that Republicans are seeking to target about this message, because education is perennially an issue for voters but what that means varies on which– depending on which voters we’re talking about. 

WALLACE: Sam, why don’t, why don’t the Democrats seize the mantle of being the party for parent’s rights, parent’s rights to know that they can go to their job, whether it’s at home or in an office, because the schools will be open because masks are there to protect kids. Democrats should say that the entire book issue is absurd. People without children don’t fight over what books they have in their libraries. It is possible for children to search the Internet and locate any content. You may also block it. Have fun. Children know how to navigate almost any situation. You have to sit there with them and take the earphones out of the computer so you can hear what they’re looking at. These are ridiculous debates. While I am not saying that they are ineffective they are stupid. Why don’t Democrats grab parent’s rights and the advocacy for students? The Republicans have had almost always enjoyed the upper hand on education funding. They also hold the edge on student attendance, aftercare, lunches and other matters. The Republicans have the advantage.

STEIN: This is a very complicated question. This is partly due to the fact that education policy was being rewritten and educational political wars were being swept aside by the pandemic. One of our retrospective reports on Mcauliffe’s campaign revealed that the Mcauliffe campaign was underwater in their education policy memos long before Critical Race Theory was popularized on Fox News. This was due to a lot of anger at the fact that many schools were closed by the pandemic. That inherently placed Democrats on the defensive. I believe some of that has continued even though 99% of schools currently remain open. Democrats were very defensive in their reaction to the possibility that the Pandemic would portray them as being comfortable with school closings. This is just one aspect of education policy warfare. The second thing is, you know, what happens when you get the issues like curriculum and deciding what books can or should not be in your school’s public li–in a school, or a public library. You know what? I believe there will be backlash against the campaign to demonize certain literature. In the Virginia Gubernatorial election, for example, an advertisement that Youngkin ran featured a mother discussing Critical Race Theory. It came out that that mom a couple–maybe a decade ago had pulled her son because she was worried about a Toni Morrison book. It was met with immediate backlash. I believe there may be some Republican overreach.

WALLACE: The understatement of this year. The Republican slide to the sidelines is being overexaggerated. Sam Stein, Errin Haines. It was a pleasure to meet you both. We are grateful that you took the time to visit us.