TAMPA, Florida — A pair of parent activists who founded a national grassroots parent organization say the emergence and growth of parent activism in schools is in no small way an answer to the influence of teachers unions.
Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich, former school board members who are two mothers of school-age children, founded the parent activist organization Moms for Liberty at the end of 2020 as a nationwide outrage over school closures was proving to be the catalyst for a national movement of parent activism.
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In an interview with the Washington Examiner at Moms for Liberty’s first national summit in Tampa, Justice and Descovich said the movement had given parents a voice in school district political landscapes often dominated by teachers unions.
“America got to see during COVID the control that the unions really do have in our schools,” Justice said. “They kept schools locked down, they made … in some of the districts, wild demands to reopen that really showed that the unions are political activist groups. They’re not there to represent the teachers, and they’re certainly not there to represent the children.”
A year and a half after Descovich and Justice first founded Moms for Liberty, the organization boasts more than 200 local county chapters in 38 states, with more than 100,000 members.
Providing a noteworthy juxtaposition, Moms for Liberty’s first annual summit comes on the same weekend that the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second largest teachers union, is holding its annual convention.
The union has planned votes on numerous resolutions that have raised eyebrows due to their limited or at times nonexistent connection to schools and teaching, including multiple resolutions condemning the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade last month, a resolution vowing to support Ukraine, and another condemning the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
Earlier this month, calls for mandatory masking and vaccinations for students in public schools were among the resolutions debated at the annual meeting of the nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association.
In contrast, at the Moms for Liberty summit, almost every session is specifically geared toward education policy and district-level activism.
Included on the agenda are presentations and speeches on student and parent legal rights, how to run for school board effectively, vetting school board candidates for local chapter endorsements, and how to keep schools safe.
The dichotomy of the two events was not lost on Justice, who said it was a “wonderful side-by-side.”
“We’re giving tools — we’re putting tools in the toolbox of these parents so they can better understand what’s happening in their children’s education,” she said. “what we’re trying to do is empower parents with information. And we’re very focused on the issues of parental rights and education and children.”
“We have a flowchart diagram for all of our members,” Descovich added. “Is it parental rights? Yes, you can address it. Is it education? Yes, you can address it. Is it anything else? No, you don’t. We stay laser [focused].”
It’s a contrast that the Moms for Liberty co-founder says is front and center because the unions “have lost their mission.”
“Because they lost their mission, students are suffering. And it’s unacceptable and parents are upset about it,” Descovich said. “It’s one of the reasons Moms for Liberty has been so successful — it’s because we are focused on getting a better education for these children.”
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And for elected officials that positively engage teachers unions, Justice had a clear message.
“2022 is the year of the parent and elected officials. If you’re running for office, if you are an incumbent, you need to be listening to parents,” she said. “Parents are concerned about the future of America, and we’re here to help. We will partner with our children’s schools, but we do not co-parent with the government. … It’s time to reach out and draw the boundary lines between school and home.”
