Progressives take a leaf out of the conservative playbook to target school boards

Anger over issues such as the mask mandate galvanized families — like these seen at the Hillsborough County School Board in Tampa, Fla., last year — into running for school board. Progressive groups are taking a leaf out of their playbook. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

A lot of people who run for school board are parents or teachers; 19-year-old Maryam Zafar is neither.

"I have a lot of like, really close experience to a big chunk of the people that we are supposed to be serving as a school board," she said. "And just because of my age, people automatically know that I have a unique perspective, whether they've heard it or not."