Protect your school board from members who want to ban books, censor curricula, and institute policies that harm LGBTQ+ students. AAUW California’s School Board Project encourages all our members to become vigilant observers of their local districts, and to contact your assigned liaison if members are not meeting their obligations under the guidelines outlined above.
School Board Project Toolkit
Toolkit for Protecting Your School Board from Members Who Support Book-Banning and Curriculum Censorship, and Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies
Step #1 – Educate yourself.
- Find a list of resources HERE.
- Attend school board meetings in your local district(s) and complete the School Board Meeting Checklist which can be found HERE.
Step #2 – Seek out qualified candidates to run for open seats, or to challenge regressive members.*
- Make note of school board meeting speakers who share AAUW’s values.
- Seek referrals.
- Talk to members from your district PTA.
- Talk to current board members.
- Talk to local politicians you may have a relationship with.
- Talk to like-minded friends who are in other community organizations.
- Once you have identified a potential candidate, approach them to gauge interest. You may find a sample “solicitation” speech HERE.
- If a candidate approaches you for an endorsement or other support, ask them to complete the attached questionnaire for future vetting. It can be found HERE.
Step #3 – If your potential candidate decides to run, support their campaign.*
- Request your branch board to agree to endorse the candidate; post on your branch’s website.
- Help your candidate become known in your community.
- Host a meet-and-greet in your home (as an individual, not as an AAUW member).
- Post social media messages of support (to be provided by the state Public Policy Committee).
- Volunteer to work on their campaign.
- Walk precincts.
- Distribute flyers.
Step #4 – Speak out at school board meetings.
- You can find a sample scripts HERE and HERE.
- Hand out parent brochures to counter the misleading information about Public Education being spread by other entities.
- A printable version of the parent brochure can be found HERE. This version will print with vibrant colors, but is not ideal for screen readers. Print as a two-sided document and fold into a tri-fold.
- For electronic distribution, use the version of the parent brochure that can be found HERE. This version is best for screen readers.
Step #5 – Keep your School Board Project liaison updated on your actions.
- You can find your liaison HERE.
- Items to report:
- Name, contact information (phone, email) of potential candidate, school district
- Activities completed in support of candidate
- Attendance at school board meeting
- Attach copy of completed School Board Meeting Checklist.
*You can find information about the authority for engaging in these activities HERE.