An organization with no clear leader called Save Our Schools has inserted itself into school district politics and an upcoming board election in Smithtown, Long Island, stirring up grievances over issues such as white privilege and charging that school officials are indoctrinating students with an anti-police agenda.
The group circulated a newsletter several weeks ago that, within a wide-ranging litany of misinformation, falsely connected school boards and district leaders to left-leaning billionaire George Soros while condemning efforts to address racial equity and social justice.
It is a microcosm of a national movement against discussions of systemic racism in schools and educators’ attempts to rectify racial discrepancies, which conservatives have painted as a bid to immerse students in liberal values. Similar rhetoric has been deployed in school districts in Virginia and Texas, state legislatures in Idaho and Oklahoma and in talking points among prominent Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is featured in a video on the Long Island group’s website.
Read more at Politico: Shadowy group brings culture war to Smithtown school board election