Nefarious and national? Why do some purportedly “local” groups who claim to want “to get all politics” out of our schools, seem to post with the frequency and rhetoric of a professionally managed social media account whose intent is to sow discord? School boards all over the country are facing outside pressure from nationally-funded organizations, creating division in local communities in the name of national politics. How can we be sure that isn’t happening here in Summit County? 

With threats being made against our teachers and students, it behooves us all to come together in these times, cool the rhetoric and come to our senses. We deserve better than organizations who stir up controversy using fearmongering and disingenuous arguments. We deserve to debate tangible issues with intelligence and compassion, not panic over the most recent phrase of moral hysteria. There will always be disagreements and challenges to adapt to and overcome as a community. We must do this together with truth and compromise, or else fall into division, hyperbole and tribalism.