Do you feel frustrated when your child’s school implements a curriculum that doesn't align with your values? Do you feel betrayed when the school hides important information about your kid? Do you feel scared to speak out, for fear of retaliation to yourself or your child? You’d be furious if you see kids being bullied at school but no actions are taken to correct the cause. You are enraged when the only pro-student and pro-education school board member gets bullied by union-backed board members. You are rightfully angry when the school district leadership turns a blind eye to your valid concerns and opposition.

You are not alone. Many parents and community members in California are facing the same struggles as you. Whether it is ethnic studies curriculum usurped to divide, discriminate and indoctrinate, math instruction turned into ideological re-education, a seven-year-old reprimanded for drawing “All Lives Matter,” or a lone trustee in Palo Alto Unified targeted with a censure for speaking up for parents and students, the struggles we contend with are omnipresent and urgent.

While you may feel helpless fighting the establishment education bureaucracy, please rest assured that you are with the majority. Sadly, this majority for common sense, good education and foundational values has yet to develop leaders throughout our communities and school systems. To make matters worse, politically minded actors, represented by teachers’ unions, actively work to stifle and attack the majority with their over-the-top agendas that cover up failures to educate, overwhelm the system with far-left ideologies and even groom kids into transgenderism.

The good news is: you can become a leader if you develop your causes and elevate the cause that resonates with you.

Step by step, you can transform from advocating for your cause to spreading love to the next generation. You can transform your fury and burden of service to a track record of improving education quality. In the process, you will be sowing the fruits of student success, academic competitiveness, while embracing compassion for the parents whose rights are trumped. Only when you turn your rightful indignation into love can your fight be more enduring and impactful.

We are in the midst of a culture war. Public school districts have become part of this war against our legacy and virtue. The only way to win back American hearts and minds is to fight back with a long-term strategy and with an acceptance that triumph takes more than a few battles.

The kind of causes that have first turned your attention to what is going on in school districts are all noble. But you must elevate them from single district-specific issues to student success, academic quality, parental rights, educational equality, financial accountability, and self-governance. By doing so, you would be able to develop the widest spectrum of support from a diverse group of parents and stakeholders. Always keep in mind that it's a culture war that may take more than a generation of effort to win. Our ultimate objective is to win public opinion and support from students, teachers, administrators and school board members, all of whom are instrumental in changing the direction of the school districts into the right one. This process may take decades and the success in the long run hinges on your goals, values and virtues. These encompass: your respect for freedom of speech, your sacrifice for a common good, your persistence to fight, an openness to diverse opinions, your honesty, integrity and leadership to unite and win… to name a few.

One of the common shortfalls of fighting isolated battles that focus on single topics is the lack of sustainability. Once the immediate problem is solved, you and your fellow advocates may just leave. For example, pandemic school shutdowns woke up many parents. Now that the pandemic is over, many anti-school-closure/anti-mandates parent advocates have disappeared from the horizon. They may believe that their job is done. But we have much bigger root problems in too many school districts.

Another drawback of fighting isolated battles is the impossibility of gradual growth necessary for any value-based movement. Too often, the momentum is lost in the course of months. For example, one group of parents may start organizing after one of their beloved school board members is attacked. Nonetheless, if they don’t elevate their personal loyalty to higher values, they may alienate anyone who has honest disagreements with the board member on policy substance. Worse, personality-based advocacy campaigns can degenerate into unprincipled zero-sum games. Slowly, more and more people will be pushed out and the movement dies quietly.

If there is one strategy to win the culture war, the one that matters the most is to elevate your cause. If you find the calling to and passion about your elevated cause, it doesn't matter if you are a parent of current students or not. Nor will your age or your language skills present as real obstacles. You will be able to gradually build your team, develop momentum, and win the culture war. But first be warned: it's a sacrifice you must make on your own. With love for our next generation and for our country, you will persevere.

Once again, know that you are not alone and that this will be a long term fight. Some leaders from various school districts have stood up and taken charge for a while. You can consult with them. Many organizations, such as Parents Defending Education, California Policy Center, our group Californians for Equal Rights Foundation and other allies, are ready and willing to help you get started. We will equip you with knowledge and practical knowhow if you have the calling to improve the public education in your very own school district. Contact us if you are fighting in your school district and feeling alone. We are here to support.

Step1 (Elevate): Elevate your cause and find three causes that can best motivate you and your fellows.

Forthcoming next in our series: Step 2 (Activate): Make your commitment through attending school board meetings, IN PERSON and CONSISTENTLY.

To be continued...