Here’s a tiny bit of upbeat news that hopefully portends a bit of common sense prevailing in the future. Wisconsin is a swing state just like Virginia:
A recall effort against four Mequon-Thiensville School Board members failed to unseat any incumbents Tuesday, a major loss for recall organizers who had raised nearly $50,000 and gained national attention in their months long pursuit.Each of the incumbents won over 58% of the votes in their races, according to unofficial results posted by the district Tuesday.
The election marks the 16th failed recall effort against school board members in Wisconsin since the pandemic began, with many of the recall organizers citing frustration with pandemic safety measures.
The number of school board recall attempts this year is more than double any previous year tallied by Ballotpedia, a Middleton-based nonprofit.
Recall organizers had pushed the message that academic achievement was declining in the district, arguing that the district’s pandemic safety measures and commitments to equity were contributing to that decline.
They cited the district’s “seven milestones for success,” which have shown declines in recent years. Standardized test scores have declined statewide over the past two years as the pandemic disrupted classroom learning.
After results came in election night, incumbents thanked supporters.
“My community of Mequon-Thiensville — the school district, the teachers, the staff, and most importantly, the students of the district — won tonight. It was never about us four. It was always about the students. And we are thrilled about the results,” Khan said in a phone interview.Y
“We are very happy with how the community responded to our message of rejecting lies and distortions. I am very grateful to the community that they rose up and they did not accept the distortions and lies,” Khan also said.
Recall organizer Amber Schroeder, in a joint statement election night from herself and the recall candidates, said the group was still proud.
“While this is a small loss for us, we’ve had a huge victory for many people in our community,” she said in a statement. “We are proud of what we were able to accomplish in such a short time, and we are ready to keep fighting for children.”
Recall candidate Charles Lorenz said in a phone interview that the recall group brought attention to issues such as the academic decline in the district and transparency.
“I think from all of that, I find a really positive night personally and the fact that so many people came together and we got a message out there,” said Lorenz.
Recall candidate Scarlett Johnson said in an email Nov. 3 the group was proud of what it had accomplished over the past weeks and even the months before, when it gathered signatures.
“We look forward to working with the incumbents, hopefully with a new perspective to solve the very significant problems within the district. Although we did not win by vote count, we recognize many other victories tonight,” she said.
Gosh, that sounds almost … decent. Maybe they really can work together to effect change that everyone can live with.
On the other hand:
Schroeder, a parent of three children in the Mequon-Thiensville School District, said she encouraged residents to vote for the recall because of academic decline in the district. She said the pursuit of equity in the district was bringing “the kids at the top down to the middle just so we can close the gap.”
“I’m not a believer in equity in our school districts; I think it’s a horrible idea, and it’s a theory based on critical race,” she said, accusing the district of hiring “critical race theory consultants disguised as equity consultants.”
Down the block, a parent supporting the incumbents, Neda Esmali, said recall organizers “stoked outrage in people over misinformation regarding things like critical race theory that do not exist in the school district.”
“I think our children are being used as pawns in a political agenda,” Esmali said.
Voters cite range of views on critical race theory, academic progress
When asked why he voted, Michael Schuster, who has three grandchildren in the district, unzipped his jacket to show the writing on his shirt: “Two things every American should know how to use, neither of which are taught in schools.” Pictured on the shirt was a gun and a bible.
“Better to vote than to start shooting all you progressive guys,” he said. “It’s better to vote. I’m not a violent person.”
Schuster said his No. 1 issue was his opposition to critical race theory and discussion.
“It’s not to keep someone else down; I just don’t want someone else to get privileges of any kind simply because 160 years ago, his distant ancestors worked in the cotton fields,” he said.
Another voter who supported the recall, Carole Olkowski, said she differed with recall organizers on the subject of race. She said her daughter, who is biracial, thought there should be more curriculum in school from diverse viewpoints. But Olkowski also thought the district needed to improve academic performance and current board members weren’t doing enough.
“I don’t think they’re ready for college,” Olkowski said.
Another recall supporter, Tom Bardenwerper, said critical race theory wasn’t a factor for him. He said he was concerned about the quality of education.
“Normally I wouldn’t go to these types of things but I feel a good education is very important,” he said.
Those supporting incumbents said they thought the recall effort lacked merit.
“The reasons that were given for the recall don’t make sense to me,” said Anne Michalski. “If those individuals would like to run in a regular election, I think they are completely entitled to do so.”
Lynn Beavers, whose children attend district schools, said “the facts were lacking” in the recall effort.
“I thought it’s a waste of money,” Beavers said. “There’s an election coming up in April; it’s just drama.”
Megan Kuehn said the recall group’s messaging wasn’t clear “on what they stood for.”
“It leans back to the whole CRT, anti-mask, all of the other stuff that they’re against. If it was about academic performance, we could have handled this in a more constructive way instead of wasting taxpayer’s money on a recall election in the middle of everything,” Kuehn said.
Kyle Malloy and his wife, Danielle, said the district was going in the right direction and also voted against the recall.
“Mequon’s a great school district, and I don’t think you need to have politics get in the way of teaching kids,” Kyle Malloy said.
Here’s what it was really all about:
The recall effort began in June, with Schroeder and other leaders citing concerns about academic decline, taking issue with the district’s pandemic safety measures as well as “critical race theory.” Schroeder accused board members of being unavailable and “abdicating” duties to the superintendent.
While Wisconsinites have attempted recalls against 36 school board members in 16 district since the pandemic began, often citing pandemic safety measures and critical race theory, none of the other efforts were successful. In most cases, recall organizers failed to get enough signatures to trigger a vote.
In late August, Schroeder and Johnson dropped off boxes of signed petitions at Homestead High School, surpassing the threshold with over 4,000 signatures. Their efforts have been aided by politicians and donors far outside the district.
Republican megadonor and billionaire Richard Uihlein was the top financial contributor to the recall effort, giving $6,000 to recall committees. And for nearly $6,000, recall organizers hired the firm of Lane Ruhland, an attorney who worked for the Trump campaign and helped file nomination papers in Wisconsin for Kanye West’s campaign.
Recall organizers out-fundraised those supporting the incumbents, $47,000 to $27,000.
Days before the election, organizers on both sides were accused of legal violations.
Schroeder confirmed Tuesday that she had filed an ethics complaint Friday with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission against the committee supporting the four incumbents, accusing the group of breaking campaign finance rules — allegations denied by the committee’s treasurer, Nancy Urbani.
Urbani said she received a copy of the complaint Tuesday from the commission and had 15 days to reply. She said the claims were false.
“It’s a series of allegations that range from blatantly false to those that do not even apply,” she said. “We’re investigating next steps, if we have to hire our own attorney.”
Also on Friday, an attorney for the local organization Bridge the Divide said the group was suing Johnson for defamation, claiming Johnson damaged the group’s reputation by falsely calling the organization Marxist, funded by the Democratic Party, and a proponent of defunding the police and teaching Critical Race Theory in local schools.
In response, Johnson said she would not comment on the merits of the lawsuit but called it a “political hit job.”
Note the support from a billionaire wingnut. And all of this was ginned up on national right wing media over the past few months. As Rachel Maddow put it, Fox News has created a fully formed campaign platform for the GOP in the midterms with CRT.
But somehow, in this town more people were reasonable and sane than the racists who don’t want people getting the “privilege” of learning about the truth of our history. And the people who lost didn’t act like barbarians. Maybe there’s hope yet.