Earlier this year, it looked on the surface at least like Democrats may have learned from their mistake of targeting domestic terrorists concerned parents. The Department of Education launched a National Parents and Families Engagement Council that the agency said would develop "strong and effective relationships" between families and schools.
Sure enough, though, the new council proved to be a joke, as education groups realized the organizations picked to sit on the council were filled with leftwing activists.
It was clear Democrats learned nothing, not even from Glenn Youngkin's success in Virginia, where he made the issue a central point of his campaign for governor.
In New Jersey, we're seeing a similar pattern.
The state chapter of the largest teachers' union in America came out with an ad painting parents speaking up at school board meetings about sexual education standards, Critical Race Theory, and COVID-19 policies as "extremists."
The ad switches back and forth between color images of teachers with students and black-and-white photos of parents speaking up at school board meetings.
"When extremists start attacking our schools, that's not who we are," the video says. "People who only want to fight to score political points should take that somewhere else."
Save Jersey blog's Matt Rooney said the ad was a "stupid" use of members' money.
"Attacking Garden State parents who don't want their First Graders learning about gender fluidity? Politically risky for sure, but the NJEA is leaning in," Rooney said.
New Jersey's new sexual education curriculum was adopted in 2020 but is set to start in the 2022-2023 school year. Widespread concern has been raised about topics such as gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual acts, and whether the grade they will be discussed in is age appropriate.
