Who We Elect Matters!

APS elections are just over a week away and Gov. Martinez is teaming up with the local Tea Party targeting four more seats – enough to give them a majority on the APS board – and the tactics they are using are right out of the national Tea Party playbook. Now we get the first chance - in the first election since Trump's inauguration and our resistance marches - to show local organizing power. Across the country, conservatives are using their new organizing power to take over school boards to force schools to teach their brand of history and destroy public education. In 2013 in Colorado, the local Tea Party elected 3 new members as part of a wave of conservative “reformers” taking over Colorado school boards. They formed a majority on the five-member Jefferson County School Board. During their two years in office, “they imposed merit pay, diverted public-school funds to charter companies, and tried to make the curriculum more “patriotic.” (Labor Notes News) In North Carolina, the election of four Tea Party conservatives to the Wake County school board led to a 2010 vote abolishing long-standing school integration measures, and other major changes are expected. In May 2010, the [Tea Party-majority] Texas state board of education (SBOE) was garnering national attention as it considered – and eventually approved –  new social standards that were designed to neutralize the perceived liberal bias in the teaching of U.S. history. In D.C., Donald Trump has nominated a billionaire private school advocate, Betsy DeVos to be education secretary, and progressives have overwhelmed Senate offices with calls and letters to stop her. We need that same power here in ABQ. Locally, candidates for APS Board have promised to rollback anti-bullying and anti-discrimination rules protecting LGBT students, to end "political correctness" in teaching and push through  "moral" minded education policies. [Read more] ProgressNow's researchers dug into each candidate, researching their education history, campaign platforms and endorsements (from teachers and tea parties) to bring you our 2017 APS/CNM Progressive Voter Guide. Get your voter guide Get the voter guide online at progressivechampions.com Help someone else vote Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Because these elections only turn out a few hundred voters in some districts, taking over is easy. That's their plan and they've shown they can. Find out if your APS or CNM Board member is up for election using district maps here. - Pat Davis Progressive Champions PAC an election project of ProgressNowNM In 2015, after an APS board member started organizing parents to opt-out of Gov. Martinez and Hanna Skandera's new testing scheme, Governor Martinez used her personal Super-PAC, “Susana PAC,” to fund more than $15,000 in contributions, robocalls and attack ads against her.  The Gov’s Tea Party candidate won. We won't let them take over these elections, but we need your help. Donate to help us spread this voter guide to 8,000 households most likely to vote in these races. Click to view this email in a web browser or to share on Facebook Paid for by ProgressNow New Mexico.        ProgressNow New Mexico • 625 Silver Ave SW #320, Albuquerque, NM 87102 You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.