A GOP Texas school board member campaigned against schools indoctrinating kids. Then she read the curriculum.

[Nevilledog]

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/15/texas-granbury-isd-school-board-courtney-gore/

Weeks after winning a school board seat in her deeply red Texas county, Courtney Gore immersed herself in the district’s curriculum, spending her nights and weekends poring over hundreds of pages of lesson plans that she had fanned out on the coffee table in her living room and even across her bed. She was searching for evidence of the sweeping national movement she had warned on the campaign trail was indoctrinating schoolchildren.

Gore, the co-host of a far-right online talk show, had promised that she would be a strong Republican voice on the nonpartisan school board. Citing “small town, conservative Christian values,” she pledged to inspect educational materials for inappropriate messages about sexuality and race and remove them from every campus in the 7,700-student Granbury Independent School District, an hour southwest of Fort Worth. “Over the years our American Education System has been hijacked by Leftists looking to indoctrinate our kids into the ‘progressive’ way of thinking, and yes, they’ve tried to do this in Granbury ISD,” she wrote in a September 2021 Facebook post, two months before the election. “I cannot sit by and watch their twisted worldview infiltrate Granbury ISD.”

But after taking office and examining hundreds of pages of curriculum, Gore was shocked by what she found — and didn’t find.

The pervasive indoctrination she had railed against simply did not exist. Children were not being sexualized, and she could find no examples of critical race theory, an advanced academic concept that examines systemic racism. She’d examined curriculum related to social-emotional learning, which has come under attack by Christian conservatives who say it encourages children to question gender roles and prioritizes feelings over biblical teachings. Instead, Gore found the materials taught children “how to be a good friend, a good human.”

*snip*

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. maga news sources fail them once again. They are perpetually bewildered when reality is not what they thought. . . . .nt

[erronis]

8. I think they see the same material. They just don't want to report it.

Can't imagine why they sit on these stories.... Couldn't be because they are beholden to the same billionaire class, could it?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. They see some the same and a lot that is nonsense

She probably watches RSB (Right Side Broadcasting) and ONAN One News America Network when she isn't watching Fox.

Probably a lot more than you watch those three.

And yes, there is an unspoken conspiracy by reich wing news outlets to promote reichian stories as if they were the fascist state news outlet.

[jayschool2013]

48. Funny typo

It's One America News Network, or OANN.

ONAN is pretty hilarious, however, given that the Christian god killed Onan for "spilling his seed" instead of impregnating his brother's wife.

I wonder if OANN's viewers would prescribe a biblically consistent punishment for male masturbation in the way they want to punish women for having sex.

Doubt it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

51. Purposeful :p You got it, good job! . . . .nt

[jayschool2013]

53. Thanks!

Gracias por la risa, hermano Bernardo.

[NanaCat]

45. I'll go one step farther and say they see the same material

And don't want to respect it.

[Torchlight]

2. Halfway through the story. Wanted to say thanks for posting before it slips my mind.

TX Trib is a great journal.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Well, I'll be damned...

Expecting to, but NOT finding that children are NOT being indoctrinated with so-called Ultra Liberal ideas can be downright FRUSTRATING.

Tough tittie, lady! Critical thinking takes place later in High School and college to help students manage real problems later in life. By then, their bodies and minds are ready for the challenges life will throw at them with learning skills they will need.

[Lonestarblue]

4. No one but right-wing white evangelicals expected anything wrong with the curriculum.

Funny how reality tends to follow facts. I’m surprised she didn’t just make up stuff like Moms for Unliberty do.

[Ligyron]

5. The only person being indoctrinated was her.

Immersion in a RW version of reality that didn’t exist. Just who are the puppet masters pulling your strings Courtney?

Embrace reality and the methods used to determine it.

[tanyev]

6. Right wing Emily Litella.

Would have been nice if she’d done that research before she went out and campaigned on all those lies.

[erronis]

7. A couple of Propublica's articles on this piece

Thanks for posting the Texas Tribune's links.

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-tim-dunn-wilks-brothers-vouchers-courtney-gore
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-granbury-isd-school-board-courtney-gore

And frequently they are looking for additional resources from the community to add to these stories.
https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/texas-school-board-bond-elections

[Think. Again.]

10. I wonder what was the trigger...

...that made her all of a sudden become honest?

Could it be that by going through all those educational materials, she actually became educated???

[Hermit-The-Prog]

19. The trigger? The election is over. Now she can sit back because there's no reform to do.

[Think. Again.]

23. Good point.

[11cents]

25. I don't think it's a good point

If this article can be believed, this woman deserves respect. She's not "sitting back"; she's actively organizing against the far-right disinformation that she'd previously imbibed. She's taking on her own. Good for her.

[Think. Again.]

36. From reading the article...

...it seems to me she's just suffering from what any nonzcompliant rightwinger suffers from, she's being targetted by the rightwingers because she dared to compete with them.

It will take a lot more on her part for me to trust she's sincere in anything, she's probably just a rightwinger looking for a media angle.

[patphil]

37. She committed the unforgivable crime of independent thought.

I hope she has "woke" up to the actuality of life, instead of the false reality put forth by RWNJ's.
It's gonna take a bit of time to win trust, but perhaps she's up to the task.
We shall see.

[Think. Again.]

38. Nah, she's a hardcore rightwinger just hoping to be louder than the others.

[yardwork]

50. That's how I see it, too.

She's openly talking about (1) the facts she found that refute what she'd been told by the right wingers and (2) she's openly talking about how her right-wing network didn't care when she showed them the truth.

If the story is accurate, she's a person with integrity who followed the facts and is not afraid to talk about them.

[Ms. Toad]

33. I doubt it.

More likely, she drank the koolaid - and really believed the lies they were spouting. But once she had access to everything she discovered what they/she were spouting was completely unrelated ot the truth.

[Zambero]

11. So there...

There's no there there!

[progressoid]

12. This won't convince the MAGA dipshits that believe the propaganda.

[AllyCat]

13. People do not understand that school boards

Are not for their pet projects. They are one of a group.

[Midnight Writer]

14. Hats off to this person for admitting that her platform was bullshit.

Too bad she didn't review the curriculum before she made a fuss, but I credit her for backing down when she was shown the truth.

[Johnny2X2X]

15. This is important information

This indoctrination nonsense can only be fought if you understand that thepeople spewing it really believe the things they're saying.

The rest of the country sees this as teaching kids to be good people, they are being told things are happening that just aren't happening.

[Marcus IM]

16. Wow. A goober who accepts facts.

One down, seventy million to go.

[jmbar2]

17. Glad to see this person actually looking at SEL curriculum

I didn't realize how much socialization must be done in schools until I became a substitute. Some of the youngest elementary students are incredibly disruptive and destructive.

They can lose it and completely destroy a classroom in minutes, turning over furniture, bookshelves, ripping all the educational posters from the walls and hallways. Our entire school yesterday was disrupted by one boy who went from blood-curdling screams and overturned furniture in the counselor's office, to running through the halls tearing everything off the bulletin boards. Everyone else had to stay in their classrooms until the teachers and parent could catch him and restrain him.

These explosions happen multiple times per day in the school, although not usually so serious.

I am now a HUGE fan of SEL!

[Ohioboy]

18. The article mentions that she received backlash and threats from her former supporters

This is the evidence that a political party is heading toward authoritarianism and possible dictatorship, when those who tell the truth are threatened.

[soldierant]

41. I was thinking that is must

require a good deal of intestinal fortitude to be an indoctrinated Republican, do actual fact checking, and realize - and admit - you were wrong. And that would be even before the death threats.

[Hekate]

20. Great article. This lady found she'd been fed a load of Texas horseshit & went public w the facts

That takes guts.

[chouchou]

21. "how to be a good friend, a good human." Ha!

That's the left Socialist's con-words for teaching innocent children to stay up at night doing disgusting things that good
Christians can't speak about....

[central scrutinizer]

22. That's my definition of "woke"

[chouchou]

40. :) :) :)

[SupportSanity]

24. No good deed goes unpunished

Now she is a considered a whistleblower by her former peers. She's against us now.

And all the animosity, hatred, anger and vileness they had pointing at the "bad guys"... Well, she is now the bad guy and all of it is pointing at her. Awful position to be in now that you know the truth.

The problem with the change of heart people is that when they have the change of heart, they are only one person against many. Then the former peers concentrate all that bad stuff on them.

I recommend coming out as an unnamed source as a whistle blower. It might be better. Maybe not.

Actually, I don't know of any good way of doing this. I think it's too easy to find out who the whistleblower is anymore.

Maybe staying silent, but still being a convert. Work with the democrats? Probably not.

Maybe a sudden "medical condition" which takes you out of the game.

Dunno.

I look forward to hearing any better way to do this - be a convert and stay alive.

[ecstatic]

28. I don't think an anonymous whistleblower works

in this scenario. Remember, they think that all liberals are evil, so an anonymous person would just be dismissed as a liberal.

[viva la]

26. "Instead, Gore found the materials taught children "how to be a good friend, a good human."'

Obviously a liberal plot!

[keithbvadu2]

39. Now she is a RINO.

[ecstatic]

27. Interesting... And a little weird

She took the time to carefully examine the curriculum after winning the election, and then went public when she discovered that the rightwingers were wrong and that she had been misled and fed disinformation.

Wonderful! But the reason why I say it's weird is because you'd think that someone with that type of investigative, questioning spirit would not be in that situation to begin with.

Don't get me wrong, it's easy to end up wrong for a day or two or even a couple of weeks but to mount a campaign and run for election based on wrong information when you're a smart, inquisitive person... it defies what you normally see. I'm more inclined to think that she knew it all along but needed to get her foot in the door.

But, either way, I will take it! Better late than never!

[AllaN01Bear]

31. me, too.

[Lucky Luciano]

43. Hah I wondered the same....she seemed too insightful and had too much critical thinking skills...

…to just do a 180 that fast. MAGAts aren’t self reflective enough for that. Probably a mole that snuck in as a magat, but was really undercover! LOL

[AllaN01Bear]

29. eggscllent.

love the very last line "how to be a good friend , a good human". got her eyes open, no?

[Traurigkeit]

30. Republicans CLING to their WILLFUL IGNORANCE.. Beware if anything NEW gets into their ears and may inform the mind !!!

[AllaN01Bear]

32. its fun when there bubble gets popped .

[Grins]

34. Open the link and read all of it. It's as bad as you think it is. NM

[Grins]

35. From the link...

"Criswell urged voters to reject the measure, claiming some parts, such as providing full-day pre-K programs for all students, were “communist in nature.”

Communists!!!! "...pre-K programs" are communism!!!

Welcome back to the 1950's. Anything they don't like (or want to pay for) is Communism. Or socialism. Except when it benefits them. How many years do I have to hear this shit?

[Renew Deal]

42. Teaching kids to be good humans is clear evidence of liberal indoctrination

[Old Crank]

44. Another tool exposed

The groups who supported her are now against her because her finding don't fit their narrative. Why didn't she do her research before smearing everyone who she was against?

[PurgedVoter]

46. It's almost like none of them paid attention in school

How long ago were these people in school? You would think they could remember the examples of propaganda. Oh, wait. There were bits of propaganda that I remember. Stuff about the Civil War was chock full of erroneous data indicating that it wasn't about slavery and that the heroes of the Confederacy were all really great guys.

[Historic NY]

47. Living a fact free life until reality steps in

The only one indoctrinated was her.

[Martin Eden]

49. At least she let facts reshape her views

But, like Liz Cheney, I'm sure her policy position on many issues are horrible.

[SARose]

52. She admitted she was wrong

She said she would look at instructional materials during her campaign. She did and found she was wrong and publicly admitted it. It takes a lot of courage to publicly admit you are wrong.

There is a second article that explains a bit more:

Former far-right hard-liner says pro-voucher billionaires are using school board races to sow distrust in public education

When Courtney Gore ran for a seat on her local school board in 2021, she warned about a movement to indoctrinate children with “leftist” ideology. After 2 1/2 years on the board, Gore said she believes a much different scheme is unfolding: an effort by wealthy conservative donors to undermine public education in Texas and install a voucher system in which public money flows to private and religious schools.

Gore points to West Texas billionaires Tim Dunn and brothers Farris and Dan Wilks, who have contributed to various political action committees that have poured millions into legislative candidates who have promoted vouchers. The men also fund or serve on the boards of a host of public policy and advocacy organizations that have led the fight for vouchers in Texas.

In recent years, the largesse from Dunn and the Wilks brothers has reached local communities across Texas, including Granbury, near Fort Worth, where fights over library books, curriculum and vouchers have dominated the community conversation.

Gore said that she believes school board candidates are being recruited, at times without their full knowledge, in an effort “to cause as much disruption and chaos as possible” and weaken community faith in local school districts.

Snip

More

In my opinion, I am glad to work with folks like her. She did her research (as promised); discovered the truth; admitted she was wrong and called out powerful Republican voucher advocates.

As a Democrat, I don’t agree with everything she believes but she is willing to look for truth. This is where we find common ground and can work together for Texas school children.

[Beartracks]

54. The GOP's house of cards is built on a foundation of *imagined* problems.

When you look at many of the right's positions and policy "solutions," they make sense only if the supposed problems they purport to address are real -- and they're rarely, if ever, real. Republican posturing and politicking are all in response to -- or, for many, in service of -- a whole lot of fantasy and bullshit.

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