Education and the midterms: What voters decided in consequential school board races across the nation

Education was a key issue for many voters last week as parental rights and COVID policy issues created anger among families who witnessed child learning loss and argued their right to know what their children were learning had been eviscerated.

On a local level, school board races in districts that claimed the spotlight in recent months had implications for parental rights policies and pushback against the status quo.

In Virginia, parental rights advocate Tiffany Polifko, R., eked out a win in the Broad Run District of the Loudoun County School Board race after nearly a week of tallying votes, while Democrat Erika Ogedegbe is the projected winner of the Leesburg seat.

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Polifko, whose vision for the school board pushes back against the status quo, stands to shake up the district.

She previously took stances against "sexualized politics" and critical race theory, the Washington Post reported, adding her claim that a seventh-grade assignment from one of her son's English classes focusing on his "privilege" and role as an "oppressor" compelled her to seek the seat.

"I believe our children deserve to learn in an environment free of identity politics," Polifko said in a campaign ad.

According to the Post, she solidified her role as the GOP favorite by becoming a "mainstay" on a podcast hosted by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and leading Parents Against Critical Race Theory (PACT).

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Fight for Schools founder Ian Prior called Polifko's win a "major victory" for the parental rights movement.

"If a majority of voters in a very blue district in Loudoun County are not buying what far left activists are doing to our schools, it provides hope for parents all over the country," he told Fox News Digital.

"It also shows that parents like Tiffany Polifko, who are not aspiring politicians, are motivated to run for the right reasons and can win through hard work, dedication, and a commitment to parents’ rights," he added.

The highly contested election for two seats on the board was the first since Loudoun County garnered national attention after controversial policies pulled over 200 parents into a school board meeting that was eventually shut down.

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Ogedegbe, a Democrat who claimed the district's second seat, told Washington, D.C.'s ABC 7 News in an October interview that she thinks the district is "better" than the "fear and division" she argued had been perpetuated.

She also asserted the need for transgender students to be protected and said she is "concerned" about the revisions in Gov. Glenn Youngkin's, R., transgender model policy.

The Loudoun County race was far from the only one that garnered national attention, but parental rights candidates fell short in other key races, including Dearborn, Michigan, where advocates sought changes after allegedly sexually explicit content made its way into their children's curriculum. 

Incumbent board members Hussien Berry and Patrick D'Ambrosio won last Tuesday, a blow to advocates' call for change.

Florida's Escambia County School District, which experienced similar hurdles after more than 100 library books were challenged for containing sexually explicit content and "graphic language," according to The National Desk, saw no change as well.

Incumbent Paul Fesko – whose district was the only one on the ballot – will remain on the board after defeating challenger Ray Guillory, according to CITC News in Washington. 

Fesko called the district's proposed book ban into question as the issue gained traction in the media and questioned parental complaints about a "Rights and Responsibilities Quiz" given to the district's students, according to the outlet.

Some parents criticized the quiz for allegedly containing "soft porn" scenarios.

Maine's Gorham County School District, which sparked controversy for a "Gender 101" poster containing references to "gender-fluid" and "gender non-conforming" identities that was allowed to continue hanging in sixth-grade classrooms, also saw little change after last Tuesday's midterms by re-electing incumbent Stewart McCallister and former member Jennifer Whitehead.

Some change came to Baltimore City Public Schools as the district added on its first-ever elected board members in last Tuesday's race, electing Ashley E. Esposito and Kwame Kenyatta-Bey.

The district, which garnered criticism for allegedly falling short of educational standards, previously turned to the mayor to select all board members, but others found the change an opportunity for community voices to be heard.

Baltimore teachers' union-endorsed Eposito, an IT professional, ran as a "concerned mother," according to FOX 45 in Baltimore, and said she wanted to bring that perspective to the board. 

"I'm the only parent community member in the race," she said, according to the outlet. "That is the perspective I want to bring. You know, I'm not an educator. I'm coming in as a mom that's just concerned."

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According to The Balitmore Banner, Esposito vowed to be an advocate for parents by prioritizing bringing an end to school building closures. She also ran on hiring more tutors to "bridge the knowledge gap" between students, FOX 45 reported. 

Kenyatta-Bey also sought to improve the curriculum by focusing on instruction to prepare students for more modern positions.

"We're in a changing society right now. And if we don't change with it, if we don't change our education with it, we will lose it," he said, according to the outlet.