re: Tom Malinowski’s big announcement

͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ {NAME}, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss Tom’s big announcement — especially after NJ.com published [this article]( highlighting the Districts for Democracy initiative! Districts for Democracy is fighting to protect our schools from culture wars and censorship, but we can’t do it without the help of grassroots supporters like you. [There's still time to become a Founding Donor! If you’re on board, please consider donating $10 to Districts for Democracy today to join the fight for New Jersey schools:]( [DONATE NOW »]( Thanks for your support, {NAME}, and be sure to read on for Tom’s original message if you missed it. Begin Forwarded Message from Tom Malinowski: Last year at a suburban New Jersey high school, I was taking questions from students about current events when a teacher took me aside to say a parent had recently removed a child from one of his American history classes. Why? Because the class was studying the civil rights movement, which the parent said was teaching "critical race theory." I was saddened, but not surprised. Across America, and in New Jersey, too, MAGA extremists have been taking their culture wars to our schools, banning books from libraries and classrooms, threatening teachers with prosecution, and politicizing school board races, at our kids' expense. Americans who want to protect freedom of expression and our public schools have been playing defense. [So I'm excited to launch a new effort, Districts for Democracy, to start fighting back. We need at least 5,000 Founding Donors to join our cause today. If you want to get in on the ground floor of this intitiative and help me restore sanity to New Jersey schools, please consider donating $10 today:]( If you've stored your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will be processed immediately. [DONATE $10 NOW »]( [DONATE $25 NOW »]( [DONATE $50 NOW »]( [DONATE $100 NOW »]( [DONATE $150 NOW »]( [ANOTHER AMOUNT »]( You've seen the headlines: In Missouri, school districts remove books about the Holocaust because of a new law that subjects teachers to possible jail time for teaching allegedly "explicit" material. In Ohio, the author of a children's book called "It's OK to be a Unicorn" is accused of trying to turn kids gay and banned from reading it in schools. In Florida, the state bans math textbooks with sidebar biographies of African American mathematicians, and school districts pull books about Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente from libraries because they discuss racism in pro baseball. This creepy censorship is not the result of some grass roots popular campaign; it's part of a top-down political strategy. Right wing think tanks stirred up fear about "critical race theory," which is not actually taught in any public school in America, to drum up votes for their favored politicians. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is hoping to ride his crusade against academic freedom all the way to the White House. In New Jersey, our school board elections are supposed to be non-partisan. But last year, Republican politicians worked with national right wing groups to elect school board candidates trying to bring Florida-style censorship to our state. They told lies that I consider unforgivable — falsely accusing our elementary school teachers of sexually grooming and teaching pornography to kids. Some of these candidates won, and in some districts, we're already seeing teachers and administrators leaving because of the hateful vitriol they're facing. New Jersey has the best public schools in America. We should keep our schools great, not lower ourselves to the standards of Florida or Texas. We have real problems, too — a shortage of teachers, learning loss due to COVID closures, mental health issues, and more. These are the challenges we should be debating, instead of getting sucked into crazy culture wars. Districts for Democracy will promote freedom of expression and educational excellence in New Jersey and beyond, by encouraging reasoned public debate of these issues, holding school board members and elected officials accountable, and recruiting and supporting candidates committed to democratic values. I strongly believe in keeping partisanship out of our schools — and I would oppose attempts at censorship by the left as well as the right. So we will work with and support all who uphold these principles, regardless of party. The good news is that the vast majority of our students and parents have zero tolerance for censorship in our schools. As a member of Congress, I spoke to thousands of students at dozens of local schools. They are incredibly smart, eager to learn about and debate difficult topics. They asked me to protect them from guns, not from ideas! And if anyone tries to ban a book in our state, I'm confident ten times as many kids will want to read it. These wonderful young people need our organized support. Our country needs us to stand up for the ideals we've taught them to cherish. I hope I can count on your help in the days ahead. Thank you, Tom Malinowski --------------------------------------------------------------- Districts for Democracy will work one school board, legislative, and congressional district at a time to recruit and support candidates committed to freedom of inquiry, thought, and speech for everyone. We want to keep the culture wars out of our schools, return school board elections to their nonpartisan roots, and keep our schools and universities focused on their central mission: helping our kids become educated and engaged citizens of these United States. ONCE]( MONTHLY]( Paid for by Districts for Democracy Districts for Democracy P.O. Box 01 Ringoes, NJ 08851-0001 United States If you need to you can unsubscribe here: [unsubscribe]( You can also [click here to donate](.