School board meetings have always been places of conflict as parents speak out about curriculum concerns…but in the last year, the news reports and videos of highly charged meetings have seemed to surge.

In August, thousands watched a video of angry parents at a Williamson County, Tennessee school board meeting, shouting over an announcement on mask policies by Superintendent Jason Golden.

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In Loudoun County, Virginia parents have raged at the school board for months over transgender policies, critical race theory, and Covid-19 issues.

“We’re certainly seeing more examples of high anxiety and great anger at some school boards,” says Dr. Neal McCluskey, the director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom…

Regent University professor Dr. Sheila Hill has served as a teacher, principal, and school board president. She…sees the current anger in a different light: national issues bubbling up at the local level…

McCluskey observes that many members are finding themselves in no-win situations.

“If you’re serving diverse communities and in particular diverse in terms of ideologies and values, you can’t satisfy all of those different parents…If one group gets control that means another group is not getting what they think is important for their children…” he said.

That’s leading some school board members to quit…

Others may be forced out…[I]n 2021, there have been more recalls than any year on record.

The anger being voiced by so many parents has led to shifting political energy in education and political candidates are taking note…

And in other states, there’s new momentum driving parents and other community members to run for the school board…

In the end, parents have the final say over their children’s education and that may look like pulling them out of public school.

The National Home Education Research Institute reports that numbers have doubled in the last two years. Likewise, the Association of Christian School International (ACSI) says that the median ACSI school saw K-12 enrollment jump by 12% from the 2019-2020 to the 2020-2021 school year…

Are you witnessing this play out in your schools? Share in the comments, and add a prayer that parents will become more involved in their children’s education!

(Excerpt from CBN News. Article by Heather Sells. Photo Credit: Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images).