Panelists at Wednesday’s Moms for Liberty in Raleigh – Photo: Ahmed Jallow
At a town hall meeting in Raleigh on Wednesday evening sponsored by the organization Moms for Liberty, national and local leaders of the conservative group blamed, among other things, unsafe schools for teachers leaving the profession in North Carolina, rather than low wages.
About 50 people attended the event, with group co-founder Tiffany Justice and panelists including local organizers and supporters of Moms for Liberty. Michele Morrow, the North Carolina Republican Party’s candidate for superintendent of public instruction, attended the event but did not speak.
Moms for Liberty was founded in Florida in 2021 and rose to prominence for opposing COVID-19 school closures and mask mandates.
It is now a national organization with chapters in 48 states, including 20 in North Carolina. The group has shifted its focus to curriculum content and is calling for limits on discussions about gender, sexuality and DEI in schools. The group is also calling for the removal of books they believe are inappropriate for certain age groups.
On Wednesday, former Union County Education Board Chairwoman Melissa Merrell was praised for her opposition to public officials’ efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 in 2021. The school board’s 2021 decision to eliminate quarantines and contact tracing for students exposed to COVID-19 sparked controversy.
Merrell served on the school board from 2014 to 2022.
Merrell, who is now a Union County commissioner, claimed that new teachers who replace those lost through retirement and other factors have been “indoctrinated” and that her county is being targeted. “Those who come in have certainly been indoctrinated at their universities and during their internships,” she said. “I truly believe that Union County has a purpose, that there is an agenda to change Union County. And so they come in en masse.”
Mary Summa of the conservative NC Values Coalition sees state Rep. Tricia Cotham’s switch to the Republican Party as a turning point. “She saw the light and became a Republican,” Summa said. “It changed the game for us because we had an agenda that included a pro-life bill, the Save Women’s Sports Bill, that we had been trying to pass for a number of years.”
Restorative justice practices prioritize making amends for punishment, but Moms of Liberty sees this as one of the reasons for the increase in school violence. “What we’ve seen in schools across the United States and in North Carolina are programs and practices like restorative justice, which means children are not held accountable for their actions, there are no consequences for this type of behavior,” Justice said.
She cited a recent incident caught on social media at a Forsyth County high school. A student has been charged with assault and is facing expulsion after allegedly punching a teacher in the face twice, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
During the discussion, panelists argued that public schools are trying to undermine parents’ rights and advocated critical race theory and “gender ideology.” Speakers called on schools to stop partnering with outside groups, such as educational nonprofits and health organizations.
“Our children are being taught to hate America, to hate the Christian values and the principles of freedom on which America was founded…” said Abigail Prado, president of Moms for Liberty’s Union County Chapter. “Our children are not getting an education. They are being indoctrinated.”
The post Speakers at Raleigh Moms for Liberty event praised conservative education and social agendas first appeared on NC Newsline.
