Oklahoma Freedom Moms Want More Involvement in Education

Members of Mamas for Liberty were among those holding information flyers to discuss Senate Bill 244 with lawmakers after meeting with several other groups in the Governor's Blue Room. It was included.

Janice Danforth, president and founder of the Tulsa Moms for Liberty chapter, said, “The reason we support holding school board elections is because we don't have enough people to vote for school board elections.'' . “And we want to increase community involvement in elections so that parents and communities can be more involved in what's going on in public education.”

According to the flyer, voter turnout for the April 2022 local school board election averaged less than 4%, with the message: “The time has come to postpone the school board election to November.”

“I think the point of this school board bill is that there are only two things that are important for everyone to consider,” says Dana Mooney, chair of the Canadian county chapter of Moms for Liberty. “And it’s hard to argue against them, given the money this bill would save and how it would significantly increase voter turnout.”

One lawmaker said the measure would save about $16 million a year in election costs, but would cost about $230,000 per election and potentially require additional poll workers in each precinct. .

Mamas for Freedom leaders say their concerns about participation go beyond turnout. We also support candidates and support members running for school board elections and other elections.

The national organization Moms for Liberty has been making waves since launching in Florida in early 2021. Since then, Mamas for Liberty chapters have been established across the country. By July 2023, there will be 285 chapters in 44 states, according to founder Tiffany Justice.

“We exist to educate parents and protect their God-given rights,” Angela Cozort, secretary of the Tulsa chapter of Moms for Liberty, said in a previous Tulsa World interview. .

The Tulsa chapter, like many others, including national organizations, began with concerns about policies in the age of coronavirus.

Starting in the fall of 2021, Danforth began worrying about the possibility of mask and vaccine mandates in Bixby Public Schools and the possibility of extended distance learning, which she felt was not good for her ninth-grade son. Ta.

“The whole premise of our work is to protect the rights of parents, to ensure accountability and transparency in the public school system, and to let parents know what's going on,” Danforth said. Ta.

She said she considered starting a Moms for Liberty chapter in the Tulsa area after the Bixby School Board wasn't as responsive to her concerns as she had hoped.

Cozort shared Danforth's concerns about coronavirus restrictions and was one of the first 10 people to express interest in the organization, allowing Danforth to start a chapter.

“What's important is that parents make decisions for their children,” said Shelley Gwartney, the charity's treasurer.

The policy that forced the formation of the group is no longer in effect. Members are now focused on regulating the library books children have access to and removing social and emotional learning from school curricula. We also focus on supporting and supporting school board candidates who agree with our policy goals.

“My concern now is that the school board will become more involved,” Cozart said.

Few of the candidates the group has supported in school board elections have survived elections. Gwartney ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the federal public school board in 2022. She is currently starting a campaign for state senate.

The local group has grown to 76 members, and the Tulsa Moms for Liberty Facebook page has 982 followers. Members meet once a month to pray, take an oath, and hold the “Madison Minute,” in which members recite passages from the Constitution.

Members are then addressed by a guest speaker or invited to vote on an officer, philanthropy, or whom the chapter will support in the school board election. They work on small, school-specific philanthropic projects, such as providing supplies to teachers and reading to children.

The national organization Moms for Liberty has weathered several controversies, including one chapter's use of a Hitler quote in a newsletter and a sex scandal involving one of its founding members.

Although the Tulsa chapter has not made national headlines, it has been classified as an anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Moms for Liberty is one of his three organizations in Oklahoma listed on the SPLC Hate Map.

“The anti-government extremist group designation defines groups that the federal government believes to be tyrannical,” said SPLC research analyst Maya Henson Carey. “And they (Mothers of Liberty) are really spreading conspiracy theories about a tyrannical federal government.”

Henson-Carey said Mamas for Liberty generally meets this definition, but the Tulsa chapter has been labeled as an anti-government group due to its rhetoric and close ties to politicians, including Superintendent Ryan Walters. He said it was attached. The chapter's website also contains links to several education-related conspiracy theories.

“Their overarching theme is that public schools and public educators seek to influence and sexualize children through radical Marxist policies,” Henson Carey said.

Tulsa's Moms for Liberty is pushing for social-emotional learning, which one of the website's sources calls a “dangerous new religion,” to be removed from public schools and books deemed overtly sexual or inappropriate. The focus is on removing from libraries.