{"id":19917,"date":"2023-11-05T07:47:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T07:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/stop-moms-for-liberty-connects-defenders-of-public-education\/"},"modified":"2023-11-05T07:47:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T07:47:53","slug":"stop-moms-for-liberty-connects-defenders-of-public-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=19917","title":{"rendered":"STOP Moms For Liberty Connects Defenders Of Public Education"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Liz Mikitarian lives in Brevard County, Florida, ground zero of Moms for Liberty. The retired kindergarten teacher saw the beginnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not pay attention at first,\u201d she says. She knew Tina Descovich, knew that Descovich had just suffered an embarrassing public defeat in a 2020 run to hold onto her school board seat in Brevard County. Mikitarian thought maybe Descovich was out for a little vengeance.<\/p>\n

When Moms for Liberty started to take hold, Mikitarian still believed there could be conversation. She joined the M4L Facebook group, and when there was criticism of public schools, Mikitarian says she tried to provide, politely, explanation and context.<\/p>\n

It did not go well. \u201cI was attacked.\u201d Mikitarian was targeted with now-familiar slurs. She was called a groomer, called a supporter of pedophiles. At first she was hurt; then, after calming down, she wondered:<\/p>\n

Is this happening to other educators?<\/p>\n

The answer was, of course, yes. STOP Moms for \u201cLiberty\u201d spread across the state of Florida. Mikitarian says that South Carolina was the first to reach out to find out how to get their own state movement going. Now STOP Moms for \u201cLiberty\u201d is in 46 states.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

Mikitarian says their mission is to be a communications tool. \u201cPeople are fighting the same battle,\u201d she says, \u201cbut they don\u2019t know it.\u201d They share articles, resources, campaigns, and allow the growing pushback against M4L to become connected.<\/p>\n

The United States, she argues, is \u201cnot for banning literature, not for excluding students, not for teaching watered-down history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mikitarian calls STOP Moms for \u201cLiberty\u201d a movement, not an entity. \u201cWe are a totally grassroots movement. We\u2019re not incorporated, we\u2019re not funded the way the Moms are \u2014 who are funded by a lot of Republican heavy hitters.\u201d SM4L leans on the kinds of social media tools that are free to use\u2014 Facebook, Tik Tok, even e-mail.<\/p>\n

They were involved in the pushback against Scholastic\u2019s announced policy of segregating diverse books; the publisher has since rolled that policy back. The group has also provided support for some school board recall campaigns and for pro-public school campaigns. Mikitarian says that school boards are \u201clow hanging fruit\u201d for those hoping to disrupt democracy, and they need to be defended.<\/p>\n

And where M4L might need to publicize its work in order build its brand and attract funding, STOP Moms for \u201cLiberty\u201d is not worried about getting credit. Her message on the group\u2019s website makes their focus clear:<\/p>\n

The attempted takeover by this fear-mongering, dark money-connected, “nonprofit”, is discriminatory and designed to inject far-right Christian Nationalism into what is supposed to be an inclusive, neutral, and safe space for ALL children and teachers. Underserved communities are targeted by MFL accusations and insults. We stand united to support ALL students families and teachers without exception. We understand that when MFL claims they are a parents’ rights organization, that they have made it abundantly clear that they only mean some parents.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mikitarian dismisses Moms for Liberty as \u201ca fake organization doing the bidding of privatizers.\u201d But \u201cwe are the definitely the majority. Moms for Liberty is not speaking for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

I reached out to Moms for Liberty for comment; if I hear from them, I will add that to this piece.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liz Mikitarian lives in Brevard County, Florida, ground zero of Moms for Liberty. The retired kindergarten teacher saw the beginnings. \u201cWe did not pay attention at first,\u201d she says. She knew Tina Descovich, knew that Descovich had just suffered an embarrassing public defeat in a 2020 run to hold onto her school board seat in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nSTOP Moms For Liberty Connects Defenders Of Public Education | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Liz Mikitarian lives in Brevard County, Florida, ground zero of Moms for Liberty. 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