Conservative group Moms for Liberty is reportedly struggling, and a good example of that was a recent school board meeting about a potential book ban, according to CNN.
Moms for Liberty saw a lot of early successes, but there is growing "pushback" about the group's conservative education agenda, according to the outlet's news report. This is reportedly occurring even on the group's home turf.
"In Florida, where the right-wing Moms for Liberty group was born in response to Covid-19 school closures and mask mandates, the first Brevard County School Board meeting of the new year considered whether two bestselling novels – 'The Kite Runner' and 'Slaughterhouse-Five' – should be banned from schools," according to the Saturday report. "A lone Moms for Liberty supporter sat by herself at the January 23 meeting, where opponents of the book ban outnumbered her."
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According to the report, almost "20 speakers voiced opposition to removing the novels from school libraries. One compared the book-banning effort to Nazi Germany. Another accused Moms for Liberty of waging war on teachers. No one spoke in favor of the ban. About three hours into the meeting, the board voted quickly to keep the two books on the shelves of high schools."
This might be only one example in Florida, but the report ties the event to a larger trend with Moms for Liberty.
"Now the group is at a crossroads," according to the outlet. "'One of their major challenges is the fact that most Americans are actually pretty positive about their own children’s schools,' Jack Schneider, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said via email. 'Although their message may have appeal in the abstract, at least to conservative voters, families aren’t clamoring for disruption in their own children’s schools.'"
Several factors can be blamed for why "Moms for Liberty’s burgeoning influence in Republican national politics may be faltering," the report says.
"A sex scandal involving the husband of Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota County school board member, has not helped the group’s cause," according to the report. "Ziegler has been on the forefront of the cultural battles GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has waged in the public schools. DeSantis named her to the board now overseeing the Walt Disney Company’s special tax district in central Florida amid his clash with the entertainment giant over a state law that restricted how sexual orientation and gender identity could be taught in the classroom. Ziegler remains on the school board despite calls for her to step down."
