Iranian immigrant runs to unseat school board official who took her mic at CRT meeting

An Iranian immigrant is bidding to unseat a Pennsylvania school board official who confiscated the microphone from her while she was speaking about critical race theory at a meeting earlier this year.

Anita Edgarian made headlines on July 26 when she, like many parents across the country have done in recent months, decided to speak out during a school board meeting in West Chester, a suburb outside Philadelphia. Her criticism led to a testy exchange, prompting board director Chris McCune to confiscate the microphone after saying her speaking time had run out.

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Edgarian, a mother of three, was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States in 1984. She has twin girls in middle school and a son in high school. She said that after the Republican Party pulled their endorsement from a previously selected candidate, she was urged to run as a write-in candidate. 

"I'm just keeping quiet thinking this is going to go away. But then I had people calling me, telling me … ‘you have to run for school board’ and I'm like, I really don't think so. You can find somebody else," Edgarian told Fox News Digital ahead of the November 2 vote.

"They said, if anybody wants to run, they should do that as a write-in. Well, now I am the write-in candidate." 

Edgarian spoke about growing up in Iran during the revolution and how she witnessed her homeland being "ravaged by communism." She told the school board it was a "nightmare" to see the two sides so divided at the meeting.

When she proceeded to ask whether critical race theory was being taught, McCune said, "Anita, you’re at time." McCune approached Edgarian at the podium, took the microphone, faced Anita, and told her to leave. 

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McCune told Edgarian, "This is shameful," as she was being removed from the building by police officers. 

"We’ve had a respectful meeting up until you. You bombarded up there, and now you want to monopolize the meeting. Not happening. You’re gone," he said.

Edgarian said she felt bullied, which the school board and administrators are trying to discourage in schools.

"We have diverse board members with PhDs and different degrees, different ethnic backgrounds. Why is it that this happened to me on July 26th, and none of these people have thought that something was wrong? This was a pure act of harassment and bullying and if you are going to tolerate this in your boardroom, then how long are you going to go ahead and ask five, six, seven-year-olds, or older kids to stand up for a child who's being bullied? And we have those issues. … We need to bring people together and it starts from the leadership. I would like to know what their thinking is," she said.

She told Fox News she has received tremendous support from the community and around the country, from as far away as California.

"The support from the community has been unbelievable. I got a letter from somebody in California saying, I can't believe this happened. We are supporting you, we’re praying for you. Just know, not everybody in California is crazy … and I got calls from people that I didn't even know and they all extended their support," Edgarian said.

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Before the July 26th confrontation, Edgarian said she was "neutral" about critical race theory being taught. She said she attended the meeting with a "completely open mind" and was not there to denounce the curriculum. 

"I actually was going to take a chair to put it in the middle of the rows and show people how many parents are neutral in this matter. That we really don't want division. I was showing that being a parent is just doing the right thing and our education should not be affected by this thing," she recalled.

"I got up and talked to bring people together, to say we should not have division when it comes to our children's education. Education should be free of politics."

The mother of three said she was also "alarmed" that her children have been learning about "gender pronouns" in school.

Amid the escalating tensions between parents and the board members, Edgarian said she has since organized events to provide a forum for activists and intellectuals to speak. 

Edgarian realizes "it's often difficult to be elected," but she feels she will come out as a winner regardless.

"I will tell you one thing. I won on that night, July 26th. I came out as a winner and the entire community of West Chester came out as a winner. So for me to lose or win November 2nd, I am perfectly comfortable with that."

Residents will vote for school board director candidates on Election Day, November 2, according to Daily Local News. A total of nine candidates are running for seats on the West Chester School Board.

CRT curriculum has sparked a national conversation about the role of race and racism in school districts across the country. Often compared by critics to actual racism, CRT is a school of thought that generally focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities. 

In the closely watched Virginia gubernatorial race, Democratic candidate and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe faced harsh criticism for claiming that he didn’t believe parents should tell schools what to teach kids. 

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Education has become a top issue in the race, with Republican Glenn Youngkin opening a 12-point lead among parents on the question of which candidate they trust to handle education, according to a recent Fox News poll.

Youngkin promises to ban the teaching of critical race theory on his first day in office, while McAuliffe denies CRT is even taught in Virginia schools.