DES MOINES, Iowa — If you’re attuned to the culture wars, you know that parental rights and anti-wokeness in education are powerful political messages now. The supposed presence of critical race theory in middle school, allowing trans kids to use bathrooms that match their gender identity, books that “groom” kids for any number of scary causes — these topics are frightening parents and bedeviling school boards and classrooms across the country.
In a blue state like California, the debates may seem too localized or too distant to matter. But the appeal of parental education rights shouldn’t be underestimated. Even levelheaded voters can be persuaded that public schools, and their pluralistic, secular values, aren’t about education but indoctrination.
Iowa, my home, is a case in point. And it could be a bellwether for a national movement that has schools and educators in its sights.
