Political division is shaping the school board race in Carroll County

National politics has influenced public education for years. Maryland has largely remained resilient.

But now partisanship has crept into local school board elections, which are supposed to be nonpartisan. A recent statement from the Maryland Democratic Party makes it clear that the spirit of the races has changed.

For the first time “in the Party’s modern history,” Democrats are investing in educational campaigns across Maryland “that seek to counter the far-right agenda supported by candidates affiliated with extremists and hate groups,” the party said in a news release.

The divide is perhaps most visible in Carroll County, where two seats on the five-member school board are up for grabs. There is a fight for places Greg Malveaux and Kristen Zihmer, both endorsed by Republican leaders and groups, and Muri Lynn Dueppen and Amanda Jozkowski, who are endorsed by Democratic leaders and the teachers union, a group that often endorses Democratic candidates in Maryland.

Both Malveaux and Zihmer support Carroll’s chapter in Moms for Liberty, which calls itself nonpartisan, although its positions consistently align with those of Republicans. This national group first emerged in 2021 when some parents were unhappy with virtual school and mask requirements aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19. Carroll’s branch was established in the same year.

Locally, the group’s influence in schools is growing.

When pride flags were hung around the school in 2022, Carroll Chapter President Kit Hart testified at a school board meeting that the pride flags should not have been there because gender identity was a concept for adults too difficult for children. Children should not be limited to their sexuality, she said. During Pride Month, the Carroll School Board voted to end the display of the rainbow flagor any flag unless it is the American, Maryland or Carroll County flag.

Chapter vice president Jessica Garland said her proudest achievement is the Moms for Liberty 2023 campaign Challenge yourself with over 50 books from the school library considered inappropriate for children. Most were written by LGBTQIA+ authors and authors of color, even though they claimed to be getting rid of schools their only motivation was sexually explicit content. As a result of the campaign, the superintendent temporarily removed all the books in question and the school board tightened its policy therefore, textbooks or library books considered sexually explicit were not allowed in schools.

Moms for Liberty supports Malveaux and Zihmer because they are most aligned with the group’s values. Kit Hart, chapter president, said they support Malveaux specifically because he supports parent involvement in education.

Malveaux told The Banner that safety and special education are among his top priorities, and at a campaign forum last week he said students want equity, not equality. He is a Republican and wrote in an email that his positions on books and parental rights “are just some of the reasons the Republican Party supports me, as well as many Independent and Democrat voters.”

Campaign finance reports show its donors included the Carroll County Republican Club, Republican Commissioner President Ken Kiler and former Republican state delegate Susan Krebs.

Zihmer is calling for a greater focus on academics, wants class sizes to be manageable and said at Thursday’s campaign forum that “divisive theories about race” should not be forced on students. She wrote in the email that she is a Republican with traditional conservative values. Her campaign received money from Kiler and fellow Republican commissioner Joseph Vigliotti, as well as Republican state lawmakers Justin Ready, April Rose and Christopher Tomlinson.

Zihmer told the Banner that she did not seek Moms for Liberty’s endorsement and did not advertise it.

The Brookings InstituteThe nonprofit public policy research organization reported that 47% of Moms for Liberty-endorsed school board candidates won their 2022 races. In 2023, this percentage dropped to 33%.

If Malveaux and Zihmer lose, Garland said, Moms for Liberty knows what to expect from their opponents.

“We will continue to fight their progressive political ideas if they win, which will further worsen our education system,” she said.

Democrats believe the stakes are just as high.

Neal Goldberg, a Carroll County parent and Democrat, fears that a victory for Malveaux and Zihmer will lead to more decisions such as book and flag bans and good teachers leaving the school system.

She joins a group of neighborhood residents who organized a fight against Moms for Liberty. His organization, Move Carroll forwardidentifies as non-partisan but advocates for “progressive change”, sustainable environmental practices, inclusivity and equality – all of which are traditionally democratic.

Campaign finance reports show that both Jozkowski and Dueppen received campaign contributions from David Trone, a Democratic congressman.

Jozkowski advocates better pay and easier workload management educators. At Thursday’s forum, she said she supported the intentions behind it Education reforms in Maryland and told The Banner that her goal is to stop the “politically motivated and divisive rhetoric that is currently harming our school system.”

Dueppen told The Banner she would prioritize students in making decisions, and at Thursday’s forum she said the Moms for Liberty book campaign constitutes an “assault” on students’ freedom to read and learn.

Dueppen and Józkowski are running a joint campaign. They are both Democrats. Dueppen, who once belonged to the Democratic Central Committee, stated that she would prefer the election not to be political.

Jozkowski said she and Dueppen accepted Democratic help because they couldn’t afford to turn it down, but it wouldn’t dictate how they would run the school system if elected. It’s important to represent everyone — “including those who don’t share the same party affiliation,” she said.

School racing wasn’t always like this. Traditionally, these are hyperlocal issues, focusing on issues such as teacher pay, academic achievement, and overcrowded schools. Party affiliation did not matter. But in recent years, the discussion in some districts has turned to restrictions on pride banners and books in school libraries. School board candidates are now routinely endorsed by partisan groups.

The Pew Research Center reports that the pandemic has caused division on many educational issues. About half of Republican parents surveyed in 2022 said the government has too much influence over school instruction, compared with 2 in 10 Democratic parents. Republicans were also more likely to say their state government and local school board had too much influence.

In Carroll County, government leaders such as the board of commissioners, sheriff and state’s attorney are all Republicans. During the 2020 election, 60% of Carroll voters chose Trump for president. School board members don’t necessarily flaunt their party affiliation, but over the past few years their actions at meetings have been consistent with conservative values.

When parents were unhappy that their children had to wear masks in 2021, board members called on the state to do so elevate mask wearing. The Management Board adopted a policy regarding limit political conversations in classrooms after parents wrongly blamed the 2022 critical race theory teaching system.

Kiler, currently chairman of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, he was on the school board when decisions were made about COVID, flags and political conversations. Throughout his tenure on the school board, he was called a racist, homophobe and old man, with some calling for his ouster. He believes it is due to divisions in the county and country between Republicans and Democrats. He believes it’s okay to be divided and not agree on everything, but it becomes disturbing, “especially when it turns into hatred.”

Kiler said he is not a member of Moms for Liberty, but agrees with them on some issues, such as book removals. He quit withholding funds from local libraries for supporting state laws that prevent book bans. But he said the number of books in question was “extreme.” However, Moms for Liberty is not a hate group as others have claimed, he said.

“We all have the right to our opinions,” Kiler said.

According to them, nine states have passed race-biased legislation Conversationnon-profit news source. Carroll County parent Bryan Thompson says that’s how it should be. He did not share party affiliation, but in 2020 he founded a group that fought against mask-wearing and school closures during the pandemic – efforts supported by Republicans.

He supports Malveaux and Zihmer and recently wrote at Carroll County times party affiliation should be taken into account in the race.

“I encourage everyone to vote according to their conscience and take into account the political affiliation of candidates,” he wrote in an e-mail. “This is not about bringing political agendas into our schools, but rather about providing transparency about the candidates who are running.”

About the Education Center

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Center, a crowd-funded journalism effort that provides parents with the resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.