Yesterday, Education Minnesota and allies held a press conference (Facebook video embedded below) and Elizabeth Dunbar covered it for Minnesota Public Radio.
Through Minnesota, Forum newspaper chain outlets are running the story. In the Detroit Lakes Tribune there's Minn teachers union, advocacy groups warn of ‘extremist’ school board candidates:
ST. PAUL — A coalition of educators, families, students and advocacy groups on Thursday, Sept. 28, urged Minnesota voters to watch out for “extremist” candidates running for local school board seats this fall.
“We are concerned that a toxic national movement is about to sweep into Minnesota school boards, through elections in a dozen key districts, mostly in the suburbs,” Denise Specht, president of the state teachers union Education Minnesota, told reporters.
While it’s a relatively slow year for school board elections in Minnesota, competition and spending over open seats in more than 40 districts is heating up. In some districts, as many as 12 candidates are running for three or four open seats, prompting observers to implore voters to make sure they know the views of the candidates before they vote.
This year in Roseville, a Holocaust denier has registered to run for one of three open school board seats at a time when, nationwide, antisemitic incidents are at an all-time high.
“We know that hate is on the rise,” said Beth Gendler, executive director of Jewish Community Action, who joined Specht Thursday along with representatives of local parent groups and LGBTQ+ advocates.
“We want Minnesota voters to be aware of what's actually on the ballot in school board races across our state this year,” she said.
Last year’s school board elections saw increases in spending and heightened tensions as parent groups, teacher unions, networks of political donors and families took an increasing interest in schools and school policies.
Several different groups have endorsed school board candidates in this year’s election. The Minnesota Parents Alliance, a conservative group that launched last year, has endorsed more than 40 candidates in 20 different districts. It’s also spent time training candidates.
Education Minnesota has put together a list of dozens of school board candidates endorsed by local unions in 11 districts. OutFront Minnesota has also made candidate endorsements in 17 districts.
Here's the press conference:
And that Roseville candidate? At TCJewfolk, Lonny Goldsmith and Lev Gringauz reported Thursday in Holocaust-Denying School Board Candidate Shows Up At TC Synagogues:
A Holocaust denier running for the Roseville School Board this fall visited two Twin Cities synagogues during the High Holidays in pursuit of his antisemitic conspiracy theories.
In two separate blog posts, Vaughn Klingenberg wrote that he attended services about a week before Yom Kippur (around the time of Rosh Hashanah) where he distributed papers on the “Big Zionist Jewish responsibility for the Holocaust.” He then wrote that he went to another synagogue for Kol Nidre services. Kol Nidre is a prominent prayer said on Yom Kippur.
TC Jewfolk is not publishing the names of the synagogues for community security purposes, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas confirmed that Klingenberg’s visits happened.
“It is appalling that on the holiest days of the Jewish calendar … that an obsessive Holocaust denier and antisemite who espouses the most vile conspiracy theories would violate our sacred spaces,” said Ethan Roberts, deputy executive director of the JCRC. . . .
On X, the platform once known as Twitter, I played a small role in the conversation about the school board candidates. I embed a bit of it below:
Jeepers, it looks like the @MNParentsFTW deleted the post I quoted. Good thing there's a screenshot. Noise is forever. https://t.co/MLtRzUo6rw pic.twitter.com/8kfSH2JolI
— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) September 27, 2023
Thus, Minnesota Parents Alliance first dismissed coverage of the Roseville candidate as "noise," then deleted that observation. By all means, educate yourself about candidates in local elections.
Photo: Kathy O’Keefe, a member of Hastings 200 Strong, holds a sign reading “Strong School = Strong Communities” on Thursday, Sept. 28, during a news conference at the Minnesota State Capitol regarding the 2023 school board elections. Kerem Yücel / MPR News/ via DL News.
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