y of Hope [Updated] // John Hinderaker
Yesterday’s election results in the United States were disastrous. In Minnesota, they were even worse. One positive was the performance of conservative school board candidate.
Education Minnesota, the teachers’ union, has largely governed our state for decades. The union has dominated the state’s school boards for decades. It has also negotiated teacher contracts in most districts. This is a corrupt arrangement. My organization has been trying for years to end the teachers’ union’s monopoly over our public schools.
We established the Minnesota Parents Alliance earlier this year to identify and train good school board candidates in Minnesota. To endorse them and provide limited financial support, we also endorsed them.
The Minnesota Parents Alliance was a relatively new organization that had only been around for a year. It made a significant impact on school board elections. This press release summarizes the first-year results of MPA.
The upstart Minnesota Parents Alliance backed the [S]chool board candidate had a very successful election night. The official endorsement of the MPA was given to 39 candidates, which is a remarkable feat for an organization that was established just nine months ago. Other candidates who received support from MPA, such as campaign training, technical help, and educational resources, also won easily. 22 of 38 candidates who attended one MPA campaign school won their elections. Many more winners in Minnesota received online access to MPA training and support.
The Minnesota Parents Alliance won seats within 15 of the 19 school districts in which they used campaign resources like digital advertising. These districts include:
[List omitted.]
Cristine Trooien (Executive Director of the Minnesota Parents Alliance) stated that “Parent-backed candidates cut through the noise in the election and won support by voters because they talked about important issues — academic attainment, equality, and parental rights.”
is the MPA’s voter guide. It proved to be very influential. The MPA’s influence is bound to grow in future elections. There will be a strong core of pro-parent school board members throughout the state to fight wokeness and racism, anti-Americanism, and low academic standards. We are far from there, but we are getting there. However, the strong showing of conservatives in school board elections this past year offers hope for the future.
UPDATE: Chris Rufo lauds Minnesota parents for their impressive performance in an otherwise disappointing year.
Last night, conservatives won the majority of local school board elections. Minnesota’s conservative activists won 49 seats from 15 of the 19 targeted districts.
Local elections are important. Get organized. pic.twitter.com/qOcpbKmgRZ
— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) November 10, 2022
Minnesota Public Radio has a lengthy piece about conservative success in contesting school board election elections. This is obviously not a friendly article. The most interesting part of MPR’s article is the last paragraph, where the president for Education Minnesota rants bitterly.
“This election season has been difficult and divisive for school boards, and there has been misinformation coming down form the big money MAGA group…
This is hilarious. The Minnesota Parents Alliance was the only MAGA group with a large budget that participated in school board elections. Its budget is probably one-tenth of Education Minnesota’s. It is likely that it is less. Of course, liberals play on Donald Trump’s disgrace by calling anyone they don’t agree with “MAGA.”
“…worked as intended at many places,” stated Education Minnesota president Denise Specht.
Just wait, Denise. Just wait. Next year will be better and worse for teachers’ unions, but it will be better for parents.
