Moms for Sanity--Taking a closer look behind the curtain of so-called M4L "wins"
Response to Moms for Liberty’s “Wins” — A Closer Look Behind the Curtain
While Moms for Liberty celebrates its so-called “wins” in the name of parental rights, a closer look reveals a pattern of fear-based manipulation, targeted censorship, and the erosion of trust in public education. Here’s what’s really going on behind their top “victories”:
Cumberland County, PA
Claim: “The Chapter Chair’s nationally published op-ed brought attention to an ongoing lawsuit against their school district, elevating the parental rights conversation.”
Reality: Cherry-picked lawsuits pushed by national groups don’t reflect widespread legal consensus, they fuel outrage, not outcomes. “Elevating conversation” here means promoting misinformation about inclusive education.
Tazewell County, IL
Claim: “The Chapter used FOIA-obtained information to educate voters during a school board election, empowering the community with transparency.”
Reality: Weaponizing FOIA to spread half-truths and attack school staff is a common tactic used to create a false sense of crisis and turn school board elections into culture war battlegrounds.
Harris County, TX
Claim: “Local efforts exposed a school district’s secret gender transition of a minor, drawing state and national attention to the violation of parental rights.”
Reality: There was no secret, just privacy. The district followed state and federal guidelines respecting student confidentiality. Outing students under the guise of "parental rights" endangers their safety and violates their humanity.
Charleston County, SC
Claim: “M4L helped retain a common-sense, academically focused majority on the school board through effective local election efforts.”
Reality: “Common sense” is code for anti-equity, anti-diversity policy platforms. These board members are more focused on banning books and silencing teachers than improving academic outcomes.
Lake County, IL
Claim: “M4L spotlighted the case of female students forced to undress with a biological male, prompting a federal Title IX investigation.”
Reality: This win is built on fear-mongering. Title IX protects all students, including trans ones. M4L’s approach reduces a complex legal and human issue to sensationalist talking points that harm kids.
Brevard County, FL
Claim: “Achieved a major legal win protecting parents’ free speech rights at school board meetings.”
Reality: School boards already allow public comment, but M4L activists disrupted meetings with harassment, slurs, and personal attacks. This “win” legally protects disruption, not discourse.
York County, PA
Claim: “M4L supported successful conservative candidates in local races, advancing parental empowerment and educational excellence.”
Reality: Translation: funded and organized a political takeover to impose a minority ideology on public schools, ignoring the broader community and professional educators.
Duval County, FL
Claim: “Helped elect a conservative school board majority, strengthening policies that prioritize parental rights and student success.”
Reality: This “majority” quickly got to work banning books, attacking social-emotional learning, and trying to erase LGBTQ students. The goal isn’t student success—it’s political purity tests.
Carroll County, MD
Claim: “Advocated for and secured a flag neutrality policy, ensuring politically neutral classrooms for all students.”
Reality: This policy bans Pride and Black Lives Matter flags while allowing the display of other “neutral” flags, like the Christian flag or “Don’t Tread on Me.” Neutral? Hardly.
Frederick County, MD
Claim: “Former chapter chair Jaime Brennan was elected to the school board, bringing grassroots advocacy directly into local education policy.”
Reality: Another example of M4L pushing unqualified ideologues into office. Her election was less about serving students and more about advancing a political agenda.
Hernando County, FL
Claim: Donated “quality, age-appropriate” books that “align with community values.”
Reality: Book donations from M4L often come with a catch—they sideline diverse voices in favor of sanitized, ideologically filtered narratives. A true education includes exposure to a wide range of perspectives, not just those deemed acceptable by political activists.
Bergen County, NJ
Claim: Helped remove Policy 5756 to better reflect “family-focused values.”
Reality: Policy 5756 was designed to protect transgender students. Removing it isn’t about family values—it’s about erasing protections and rolling back progress on civil rights. This “win” is a direct attack on vulnerable kids.
Pierce County, WA
Claim: Blocked the Wit & Wisdom curriculum.
Reality: Wit & Wisdom is a nationally respected, literacy-rich curriculum. Rejecting it based on fear-mongering and selective outrage means denying students access to high-quality educational materials, because a few parents didn’t like the content of a single book or theme.
Indian River, FL
Claim: Removed 300 books for being “pornographic.”
Reality: These books weren’t porn, they were award-winning literature and age-appropriate titles that touched on real-life themes like race, gender, and identity. Banning hundreds of books under the guise of “protection” is straight-up censorship.
Harris County, TX
Claim: Hosted story hour with Mattress Mack and Kirk Cameron.
Reality: A story hour hosted by right-wing ideologues isn’t about unity or literacy, it’s performative propaganda. When they say “family values,” they mean only families that look, worship, and believe like they do.
Madison County, MS
Claim: Exposed “sexually graphic” books in libraries.
Reality: Another round of manufactured outrage. These “graphic” books often include medically accurate sex education or fiction with coming-of-age themes. Parents already have the right to restrict what their children read, this is about restricting access for everyone else’s.
Los Angeles County, CA
Claim: Debunked false narratives about M4L.
Reality: You can slap a PR spin on extremism, but the record stands: M4L has called LGBTQ+ people “groomers,” pushed for mass book bans, and smeared educators. No amount of media appearances can change the group's documented record of division and fear.
Buncombe County, NC
Claim: Hosted event with NC Virtues Coalition to promote academic excellence.
Reality: These events aren’t about academic rigor, they’re echo chambers for spreading misinformation, discrediting public education, and recruiting political operatives under the guise of “virtue.”
Gillespie County, TX
Claim: Hosted documentary screening with Pastor John Amanchukwu.
Reality: Amanchukwu is known for anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-CRT rhetoric. His “documentary” isn’t educational—it’s ideological indoctrination meant to inflame, not inform.
Anchorage, AK
Claim: Donated coats through a nonprofit partnership.
Reality: Helping kids is great—every community deserves that. But let's be honest: M4L is trying to soften its image with charitable acts while pushing harmful policies that hurt many of those same children in the classroom. You don’t get to ban books on queer kids and then hand out coats like it evens out.
Monmouth County, NJ
Claim: Raised awareness about the fentanyl crisis.
Reality: Fentanyl is a real crisis but using it to further a political platform doesn’t solve it. If they were serious, M4L would support mental health services and drug education in schools. Instead, they fight programs that do exactly that.
Oconee County, GA
Claim: Fought “cancel culture” and defended “economic liberty.”
Reality: Translation: A chapter chair faced accountability for harmful rhetoric and is rebranding it as martyrdom. “Cancel culture” is their go-to buzzword when actions have consequences.
Leon County, FL
Claim: M4L members helped redevelop librarian training.
Reality: They now have a direct hand in policing librarians. These trainings aren’t about up-skilling, they’re about ensuring that librarians are too scared to stock inclusive books or support diverse voices.
Prince William County, VA
Claim: Appointed to advisory committees.
Reality: Stacking the deck with M4L members means turning educational oversight into ideological enforcement. They don’t want advisory roles, they want veto power over curriculum and identity.
Williamson County, TX
Claim: Member published a book about education.
Reality: One person publishing a book doesn’t make it educational policy. This “win” is fluff. Let’s not pretend self-publishing on Amazon equals a meaningful reform in schools.
Montgomery County, MD
Claim: Chapter Chair testified before Congress about “sexually explicit” content.
Reality: This was political theater, not policy reform. The goal wasn’t student safety, it was manufacturing outrage to justify censorship. Testifying in front of a Congress already hostile to public education is not a win for kids, it’s a show for donors.
Berkeley County, SC
Claim: Expanded conservative supermajority on the school board.
Reality: The result? Mass teacher resignations, banned books, and chaos. When you vote in ideologues, the first casualty is good governance. “Control” isn’t a virtue when it dismantles trust and professionalism in public schools.
Leon County, FL
Claim: Removed books promoting “gender ideology.”
Reality: That’s coded language for banning any book that affirms LGBTQ+ kids. These purges don’t protect children—they erase them. Public education must serve all children, not just those who fit one narrow mold.
Loudoun County, VA
Claim: Changed curriculum review policies after media coverage.
Reality: When policies change because of bad-faith outrage rather than sound pedagogy, students lose. M4L exploits headlines—not facts—to push fear-driven decisions over expert judgment.
Natrona County, WY
Claim: Helped pass parental rights bill mandating sex ed opt-ins.
Reality: This creates unnecessary red tape for schools and prevents students from receiving accurate, developmentally appropriate information—especially those whose parents may be uninvolved or unaware.
Hays County, TX
Claim: Helped conservatives win local races.
Reality: Another example of national political money and misinformation flooding local elections. It’s not a grassroots win when billionaires are bankrolling the door hangers.
Hernando County, FL
Claim: Chapter leader gained national PAC support to run for school board.
Reality: This isn't grassroots; it’s the launch of a political machine. M4L is trying to turn every school board into a culture war battlefield, with national PAC dollars pulling the strings.
Cumberland County, PA
Claim: Former Vice-Chair elected to school board.
Reality: When the goal of a board member is to advance an organization’s mission—not serve the whole district—you get policy driven by ideology, not student need.
St. Croix County, WI
Claim: 300% chapter growth led to “policy reconsiderations.”
Reality: Swelling membership after a media blitz doesn’t equal meaningful support—it means outrage sells. Reactionary mobs don’t lead to good education policy.
Wilson County, TN
Claim: Removed 8 of 13 “controversial” books and pushed parental consent.
Reality: These books are often on national award lists for a reason, they reflect real student experiences. Forcing opt-ins across all curriculum discourages innovation and undermines teachers.
Orange County, NY
Claim: Strategic campaign ousted superintendent over CRT fears.
Reality: The district became a cautionary tale of how misinformation ruins careers and destabilizes schools. There was no CRT, just politically driven paranoia.
York County, PA
Claim: Pressured school board to delay Title IX implementation.
Reality: The rewritten Title IX expands protections for LGBTQ+ students. Delaying it in order to comply with a lawsuit isn't a win—it's an attempt to block civil rights with legal technicalities.
Marion County, IA
Claim: Protests during book reviews drew national media attention.
Reality: Being loud isn’t the same as being right. Public tantrums over books don’t make you a movement—they make you a distraction from the real work of educating children.
Fauquier County, VA
Claim: Advocated for real-time library checkout alerts.
Reality: This proposal turns libraries into surveillance zones. Are we really policing students' reading habits in the name of “freedom”? That’s not liberty, it’s authoritarian parenting.
Clay County, FL
Claim: Removed dozens of “inappropriate” books.
Reality: “Inappropriate” means anything that includes race, gender, or sexuality in a way they don’t like. These mass bans are purges—plain and simple.
El Paso County, CO
Claim: District ended teacher union contract due to M4L pressure.
Reality: Busting teacher unions doesn’t empower parents—it demoralizes educators, destabilizes classrooms, and lowers the quality of instruction for every student.
Ozaukee County, WI
Claim: Chapter Chair stood “bravely” for free speech.
Reality: Irony alert: They fight for their own speech while banning everyone else’s books, language, and perspectives. “Free speech” doesn’t mean only yours counts.
Williamson County, TN
Claim: Petitioned for review of Wit & Wisdom curriculum.
Reality: Attacking high-quality ELA programs like Wit & Wisdom is a political stunt, not an educational improvement. Real curriculum decisions should be made by professionals, not pressured by conspiracy-laced Facebook groups.
Wake County, NC
Claim: Advocated for stricter library audits.
Reality: These audits often result in preemptive censorship, targeting authors of color, LGBTQ+ authors, and progressive thought. It's not “oversight” if it’s erasure.
Mecklenburg County, NC
Claim: Sparked “critical dialogue” about Holocaust curriculum.
Reality: This wasn't about better Holocaust education. It was about injecting political grievances into one of the most sensitive areas of historical instruction.
Kenosha County, WI
Claim: Supported conservatives in a contested board race.
Reality: Another swing at local control by national influencers. These “grassroots” candidates are often handpicked and trained by extremist organizations—not your average parent volunteer.
Clark County, NV
Claim: Former chapter leaders elected to school boards.
Reality: Installing M4L loyalists into public office transforms school boards into ideological battlegrounds. Education becomes secondary to performative outrage and culture war posturing.
Yolo County, CA
Claim: Legal victory for free speech with $70K settlement.
Reality: Another example of M4L using lawsuits to bully districts into submission. Legal settlements don’t mean moral victory, they often mean legal exhaustion by the other side.
Madison County, AL
Claim: Hosted book reading with Kirk Cameron and Riley Gaines.
Reality: A PR stunt. These guest speakers are anti-public school activists, not educators. This isn’t about parental engagement—it’s about branding extremism as family-friendly fun.
What’s Missing from These “Wins”?
No mention of improved test scores or student wellbeing.
No investment in teacher pay, mental health, or classroom resources.
No care for all students—just a selected few that fit a narrow ideological mold.
Let’s Be Clear:
Moms for Liberty is not a grassroots mom group. It is a well-funded political organization with deep ties to extremist networks. Their playbook relies on chaos: spread fear, spark outrage, run candidates, and take over. Their “wins” are not about students—they’re about control.
If you believe in public schools that serve all kids—regardless of race, religion, gender identity, or zip code—then the real fight isn’t about “parental rights.” It’s about protecting our schools from groups who are willing to burn down the house to claim the kitchen.
Moms for Liberty is building a pipeline, from manufactured outrage to policy takeover, funded by wealthy donors and driven by fear. Their "wins" are a blueprint for dismantling public education one library, teacher, and child at a time.
But public schools don’t belong to one ideology. They belong to everyone. And the real wins?
Protecting all students.
Trusting educators.
Defending intellectual freedom.
Resisting censorship in every form.