In education, there may be no more familiar question than “Why can't we put politics aside and do what's best for our children?” The answer is clear to anyone who has ever attended a school board meeting: Because we don't agree on “what's best for our kids.” Given that it is politics that resolves national differences, and that public education requires public funds to employ public servants to educate the nation's children, it is clear that It's not even clear what “set aside” means.
Today, politics takes on new urgency for education leaders navigating polarized debates around CRT, SEL, DEI, gender identity, and more. Especially in red and purple communities, many disgruntled conservative parents are confronting equally disgruntled educators. Since the publication of our recent book, we wonder if that's the reason. get the right educationwhy are so many school and system leaders asking questions like, “Do you have any advice for how we can better communicate to conservatives?”
Unfortunately, few school and system leaders are adequately prepared and supported in building trust on the right. Educational leaders are immersed in a world of conferences, associations, degree programs, and trainings with a pronounced leftward tilt on hot-button issues such as race, gender, and parenthood. In fact, they tend to become so accustomed to certain assumptions and phrases that they become blindsided by conservative backlash. This is bad for schools and students alike.
Educational leaders can reflexively fall into disdain for even innocuous and widely popular conservative viewpoints. For example, there is a wealth of evidence showing the clear benefits of following the “success sequence” of graduating from high school, getting a job, and getting married before having children. 77 percent of Americans say schools should teach it to children, whether they practice it or not. But in the education world, those who promote success sequences are used to being attacked as racist. Hey, as I say in the book, we've seen accomplished black educators being ridiculed as bigots for claiming to teach predominately black students about the order of success in school. I've seen it repeatedly.
In speaking with right-leaning parents, teachers, politicians, and leaders trying to build better relationships with community members (regardless of their views), we find that we believe they can be helpful and valuable. I noticed that I was repeatedly touching on some themes that seemed to be. Share them here. We are not communication professionals or politicians, so this is not about PR or pandering. Rather, it is important to engage with parents and other stakeholders in principled and productive ways.