If you were to ask readers of Daily Kos where to generate a lot of fundraising donors, right now, and push to do real damage to America, there are a lot of answers that might come forward. Specific state races or U.S. House races. The plan to take over congress. But a major fundraising push to take over school boards nationwide? You better believe it. The 1776 PAC has only one goal: to fund and elect school board members. Worse: in many states, these elections do not require any financial disclosures at the school board level, so they never have to reveal connections to a campaign or donor. In some cases, the requirements of if they even have to file expenses at all are up in the air.
Year to date, the 1776 PAC has raised $437,881. The only planned purpose of the money: to overturn any school board member they dislike or a school board member that believes in teaching history. You see, critical race theory isn’t something being taught in elementary schools. But U.S. History—which can include segregation, the civil rights movement, slavery, and important state events—is being taught. The two seem indistinguishable to the 1776 PAC, who want to Make America Great Again by... playing make-believe about history.
Here is how the 1776 PAC project describes themselves and their cause:
Their positions are incredibly hostile to white people, Western civilization, classical liberalism, the enlightenment, the founding of America, and capitalism. Supporters of critical race theory believe it is the responsibility of everyone to evaluate their own internalized racism. Non-white members of society who disagree with them are accused of internalizing white supremacy and accepting the status quo.
One avenue which they hope to rebuild society in their Marxist vision is in the schools. Critical race theory and programs like the 1619 Project- which tells explicit falsehoods about history to push their political agenda – are being taught in classrooms in nearly every state across the country.
The PAC does not specifically name falsehoods, but this may be due to the fact they are assumptive based on beliefs. Sunflower State Journal explains the problem of a PAC that gets behind school board candidates:
State laws governing campaign disclosure for school board races are relatively weak.
There are no limits on campaign contributions to school board candidates in Kansas except for Wichita, which is large enough to fall under the purview of the State Ethics Commission.
With no limits, no real reporting requirements, no disclosure requirements, and money to burn, conservative Republicans see taking over school boards as a rallying cry for November elections this year, and Spring and Fall elections next year.