the fight for our children

͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ {NAME}, I’m writing to tell you about our first local success, and a big challenge, as we fight the MAGA extremists bringing book bans to New Jersey. First, the good news: With your help, we won our first race in April! In Westfield, New Jersey, public schools have come under pressure to remove books and curriculum that right-wing activists find objectionable. With our support, candidates committed to freedom of expression won what might otherwise have been a close school board race by a two to one margin. Now the challenge: In Bernards Township, a pro-censorship slate won control of the local school board last year. And as The Washington Post reported today, they voted to ban a high school sociology textbook used in thousands of schools across America – a book that hasn’t even been challenged in Ron Desantis’s Florida. Why? Because the book suggested there had been racism at the founding of our country, and noted – factually – that election conspiracies are more prevalent on the political right than the left. [Click here if you’d like to read more about it.]( [{NAME}, what do you say? Will you pitch in $10 today to protect democratic values in our schools and keep the culture wars out of our kids’ lives?]( Keep in mind: this latest book ban happened in a suburban New Jersey town with one of the best high schools in America, a town where Joe Biden and I both won a majority of the votes last November – because we were focused on national politics and took our eyes off local races. That’s the mistake we at Districts for Democracy are determined to correct. We’re going to rally behind the incredibly smart and talented students in our schools who want the freedom to learn and are perfectly capable of addressing and debating difficult issues. We’re going to stand up for librarians and school teachers who are being defamed as “groomers” and “pedophiles” because they make available books that affirm the experiences of LGBT Americans and their families. And we’re going to help moms and dads who want to run for school board and other offices to defend our freedoms, but who worry that they, too, will face ugly smears from the MAGA crowd. They should know that if they take that risk, they will have the resources and support to prevail. And that’s where you come in! [, {NAME} if you’re ready to join the fight, pitch in $10 today →]( – 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](.