Black Americans face a pivotal decision: continue fighting to reform systems that were never designed for us, or strategically build power within new frameworks to ensure equitable representation. The eyes of Texas, and the nation, are watching closely, because the forces at work here could soon be in everyone’s backyard.

When I ran for a seat on the Keller Independent School District Board of Education in 2023, I did so with a sense of urgency. The current board – which is all white in a district where half the students come from communities of color –  had made it clear they were intent on pushing a far-right agenda, banning books, targeting LGBTQ students, and undermining diversity initiatives.

Now the board is leading the charge to split the district in two, putting the fight for representation at the heart of these issues.

The push to break up Keller ISD, a 34,000-student district north of Fort Worth, is not about improving educational outcomes or addressing financial concerns. It is a modern evolution of white flight into white power preservation. In past decades, our nation saw white families leave diverse areas for more homogenous suburban communities. Today, as America becomes a majority-minority nation, this strategy has evolved. It is no longer just about physically leaving diverse spaces but about creating new structures that consolidate power. 

The proposed breakup of Keller ISD seeks to concentrate the power of white families within a smaller, predominantly white district while leaving behind a more diverse and potentially under-resourced counterpart.

If the split happens, the new Keller ISD would be 68.4% white – compared to now – while the newly formed Alliance ISD would be 43.8% white, with significantly higher Black and Latino populations. This restructuring is not just about demographics, it ties directly into the financial viability of both districts.

Proponents of the split claim it would improve financial management, but these claims are suspect. Texas public schools are already underfunded due to the state’s education formula, and school vouchers would divert even more resources. A financial analysis by the Moak Casey consulting firm indicates revenue distribution would largely remain the same, meaning the financial justification for the split is questionable.

The creation of two separate administrations – each requiring its own superintendent, financial officers, and support staff – would likely increase overall costs rather than reduce them. This raises concerns about whether the split is truly about financial sustainability or about consolidating power in Keller ISD while leaving Alliance ISD to struggle with fewer resources, given lower property values and limited possibilities for commercial development within its proposed boundaries.

At the same time, splitting Keller ISD in half would offer opportunities for Black and Latino communities to have a voice in the new district’s governance. 

As a Black attorney who ran for the school board, I view this moment through both a personal and legal lens. Despite earning 41.8% of the vote in my 2023 campaign, I failed to win a seat in a district that allows all voters to vote for all board positions. At-large voting has long diluted the political power of communities of color. Legal challenges, such as Texas’ Lewisville ISD’s Voting Rights Act , and landmark cases like have exposed the discriminatory impact and led to reforms.

This is why the fight for fair representation in Keller ISD is part of a national struggle. As Gen Z prepares to make up the majority of voters in the 2028 presidential election, we are witnessing backlash from those who fear losing control. The proposed breakup of Keller ISD is a reaction to this inevitable change, a last-ditch effort to hold onto power in an evolving country.

Viewed through that lens, my community should fight the district split. If these tactics of white power preservation go unchecked, they will be replicated elsewhere, further entrenching inequality in our education system and beyond. This is why the Voting Rights Act remains as crucial today as it was in 1965. 

At the same time, Black Americans have long fought for inclusion within systems designed to exclude us. Today’s fight goes beyond inclusion, it is about empowerment and reform. Why should we fight to stay in districts deliberately designed to deny us fair representation, especially when it comes to our children’s education? Shouldn’t we recognize that our survival and advancement depend on securing power for ourselves? This is about ensuring that Black communities have access to meaningful representation and decision-making.

Achieving fair representation requires a two-pronged approach. First, we must push districts like Keller ISD to replace discriminatory at-large elections with member-specific districts that ensure diverse communities have a direct voice in governance. This is true regardless of whether the district splits.

Second, we must recognize opportunities to reshape power dynamics – leveraging policies that attempt to isolate communities of color to instead create new districts where Black and progressive leaders can thrive.

This approach is even more critical given the current state of our judiciary. We are no longer dealing with the same Supreme Court that delivered Brown v. Board of Education. Instead, we face a judiciary that is disregarding precedent and seemingly moving toward a framework more aligned with the segregation allowed in Plessy v. Ferguson. 

In this legal climate, Black Americans cannot afford to rely solely on the courts to protect voting rights and representation.  We must proactively fight for structural reforms that ensure equitable political power and inclusive governance – and champion policies that dismantle exclusionary voting structures and build systems that reflect the full diversity of our communities.

Charter-backed upstart failed in the Nov. 5 elections to unseat , the longtime LAUSD educator and policymaker who won the election and will begin his third and final term on the LA Unified board in January. 

Chang conceded in a message to supporters that he wasn’t going to be able to overcome ł§łŚłółžąđ°ůąđąô˛ő´Ç˛Ô’s 4 percentage point lead. 

Chang, a math teacher at James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, who previously helped found charter schools in LA, trailed behind Schmerelson with 48% of the vote, while Schmerelson garnered  52%.

The contest between the two men had the potential to tip the district’s school board away from a 4-3 majority of union-backed members, and impact the board’s handling of several facing LAUSD, including restrictions on charter schools’ use of buildings, which Chang said he’d move to reverse if elected. 

victory is part of a successful election season for many teachers . 

The outspoken former teacher and principal has sided closely with local unions on issues of space and resources for charter schools. His win could mean more headwinds for the nation’s largest charter school sector here moving forward. 

ł§łŚłółžąđ°ůąđąô˛ő´Ç˛Ô’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Two other LA Unified school board races being decided by voters this year were not as close.

For District 1 in South LA, board admin defeated with 71% of the vote, versus 29% for Al-Alim, whom the in the primary over anti-semitic social media. 

For LAUSD Board District 5, which covers parts of Northeast and Southeast LA, union-backed led with 61% of the vote, versus 39% held by Ortiz.

Meanwhile, a majority of LA voters voiced their approval of a to repair and upgrade aging school buildings. 

As of Friday, voters cast 68% of ballots in favor of , which was backed by members of the LAUSD board, district superintendent Alberto Carvalho, the teachers union and local construction groups.  

Measure US would be LAUSD’s largest ever school facilities bond, and would be paid for with property tax increases. It requires a 55% majority in order to pass. 

The Los Angeles County Clerk is still counting votes and is providing daily. 

As of Friday the clerk had recorded more than 3.7 million votes in all the elections held November 5, with roughly 35% of eligible voters still uncounted.

District 2

District 2 encompasses Downtown and East LA, including Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Los Feliz, Highland Park, El Sereno, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Montecito Heights and Cypress Park. The three candidates running in this district are vying for the spot of longtime, outgoing board member Monica Garcia.

Maria Brenes

As the director of Inner City Struggle, a nonprofit in Boyle Heights, Bernes has worked on improving education and helping youth in East L.A. 

Brenes, who is supported by Local 99 of Service Employees International Union and by charter school advocates, said she will focus on “replacing punitive measures with trauma informed approaches.” On covid learning loss, she supports “enrichment and tutoring during and after school,” and adding more “arts, music, and mental health programming.”

Brenes backs the Student Equity Needs Index (SENI) model, which distributes funding to the “highest need” schools first. 

Rocio Rivas

Rivas is the research and policy deputy to district 5 board member, Jackie Goldberg and holds a phD in education.

Rivas, who is backed by the teachers union, is passionate about expanding the community school model, where schools work with community groups providing students with health and social services. She spoke about “greening” schools, by including more open space on campuses.

On learning loss, Rivas said that she would employ peer-to-peer tutoring and partnering with overlooked resources such as retired teachers.

Miguel Ángel Segura

Segura is a substitute teacher who said he “understands the issues on a personal level.” 

Mental health is a “top priority,” he said, adding he would expand services by partnering with community nonprofits, creating a board of students, and infusing social-emotional learning into the classroom.

Segura is particularly concerned with helping immigrant students adjust to school, adding he will make sure all schools have a “newcomer center” where students can connect and get to know the school culture. 

Erica Vilardi Espinosa 

Erica Vilardi Espinosa is a community activist and a mom in Los Feliz. 

She said mental health is “absolutely the most critical issue of our time.” She said she would incorporate more “mental health activities” into the curriculum such as physical activities, and arts.

Vilardi Espinosa, who has never run for public office, is known for leading a large girl scout troop in East LA and is endorsed by unions representing public safety officers. “As one of the newest people running for office I will have to work hardest to prove myself.” she said. 

District 4

District 4 covers the westside and parts of the San Fernando Valley, encompassing some of the . the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, such as the Pacific Palisades and Hancock Park; as well as low-income areas with high immigrant populations, like Reseda and Burbank.

Nick Melvoin

Melvoin, the incumbent in district 4, has been on the board since 2017. Previously, he was a teacher and an attorney. 

On mental health, he said he wants to lean more on “community partners and… telehealth services.” On the digital divide, he said “the district must work to make sure there is long-term investment in internet access in underserved areas.”

Melvoin said he wants to cut down on the “bureaucracy and red tape” so it is easier for schools to partner with outside organizations.

Tracey Schroeder

Schroeder is a third grade teacher. Her platform is centered around being a “boots on the ground educator” and putting “teachers, parents, and students first.”

On mental health, she said  “we must start in the classroom first.” Schroeder concentrated most of her responses on the importance of reading, saying “reading is where it all starts … we need to focus back on the basics.” She also chided the current school board for its lack of “accountability and transparency.”

Schroeder is also passionate about teacher retention and “making sure students are back in the classroom.” 

District 6

District 6 covers the East Valley, including North Hollywood, Panorama City, and Sun Valley.

Kelly Gonez

Gonez, who is president of the school board and is backed by the teacher’s union, said  “this generation of students is the first to fight a serious stigma against mental health …,” and that she wants to create a “proactive” mental health culture in schools. 

She said “equity needs to be the driving force when it comes to hiring;” and that she wants to focus on providing a  “rigorous education” for Black students at high needs schools.

Gonez also spoke about adding safety protocols to schools after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Marvin Rodriguez

Rodriguez is a teacher and parent in LAUSD. He is focused on more support for special education students and providing a “culturally responsible curriculum.”

On mental health, Rodriguez said the district needs to  “address our teachers who are struggling too …” He also wants more of an emphasis on mental health and wants to implement social-emotional learning at a young age.

He also wants to “expand community schools” and “engage parents and families,” and allow non-citizens to vote for local office.

Gentille Barkhordarian running for a seat in district 4; and Jess Arana running for a seat in district 6 did not attend the forums. Miho Murai, a write-in candidate in district 2 also was not in attendance.

Placards were banned and attendees were warned at the start not to use vulgar language, single out board members or otherwise disrupt the proceedings lest they be hauled off by deputies. 

At issue this dank February night was another target of the right: , the school district’s K-5 English Language Arts curriculum. 

Conservative parent group Moms for Liberty, which spent 1,200 hours dissecting its contents last year, called for the removal of 31 books, including those about Ruby Bridges and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., arguing the texts about the civil rights icons were too “dark” and “disturbing” for young readers. 

In response, the 41,500-student district, located some 30 minutes south of Nashville, formed a committee of parents, educators and community members to evaluate the material. Its , were a major blow to the blustery parent group and its vocal supporters.

Just one book, , a Newbery Medal-winner about a 13-year-old Native American girl who lost her mother, was recommended for removal: Committee members said it was too emotionally fraught for young students. Six other texts would be slightly modified or taught differently. 

More than 70 people attended the Monday night meeting: Roughly two-thirds of those who addressed the board came out in favor of keeping Wit & Wisdom, including 17-year-old Franklin High School junior Mira Scannapieco.

“From an early age, I was introduced to real world concepts including those surrounding diversity, mental health, human rights, science and politics,” she said, barely taking a breath to stay within her allotted time. “Learning about these topics in school gave me a broader perspective, as well as the ability to formulate my own views and opinions. Sheltering today’s youth from these important issues doesn’t make them disappear.”

In the end, after a lengthy discussion, the board voted 8 to 2, with two members absent, in favor of keeping the curriculum.

Saying their concerns were not being taken seriously, many Moms for Liberty members boycotted the meeting. Most notably absent from the critical moment of reckoning was their chapter president, Robin Steenman.

“A lot of people have written it off as not particularly worth their time because we go and we speak before a board and we let them know our concerns — some parents really have poured their hearts out, some parents have just spoken in a common sense way — and it’s just a brick wall,” she told ĂŰĚŇÓ°ĘÓ hours earlier.

Steenman has three young children, none of whom are enrolled in district schools: She kept her eldest from attending kindergarten in the Williamson County system because of the mask mandate. The little girl attends private school. Her younger brother is in preschool. Steenman’s youngest is just 17 months old.

Whether the Wit & Wisdom defeat was a temporary setback or a sign that Moms for Liberty’s agenda has failed to gain real traction in Williamson County will soon be tried on a larger stage: the upcoming school board election. 

Some 20 candidates are vying for six seats on the 12-member board. Parent groups of all stripes are busy vetting the contenders and deciding who among the . 

The crowded field faces a May primary and August general election, but the battle for control of the school board is bigger than the race itself. 

In a county that is solidly Republican with a strong Evangelical Christian base, it will be a test of whether the region’s conservatism aligns with Moms for Liberty’s values — or veers away from it. In that sense, it’s emblematic of similar showdowns being waged across the country where schools have become the flashpoint for larger ideological and political power struggles.

Jennifer Cortez, co-founder of One WillCo, a nonpartisan charity formed in 2019 to push for racial and ethnic equity in the Williamson County Schools, believes Steenman has made a miscalculation. The county is conservative, but not radically so, she said. 

“We’ve been here before Moms for Liberty and will be here after Moms for Liberty,” she said. “One of the things Williamson County has going for it is that we are smart. That works in favor of my cause.”  

Next option: elect someone else

Moms for Liberty Williamson County, a tax-exempt nonprofit that can engage in a certain level of political activity, grew at an astounding pace, with 3,200 members to date. 

It’s a local chapter of a national organization that boasts nearly 80,000 members across 34 states: Based out of Florida, it recently announced that was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the state Board of Education, pending Senate confirmation. She’ll likely be seated. 

The national group has strong far right ties: Members have regularly appeared on ’s podcast discussing the nation’s current culture wars and what they see as the unchecked power of teachers unions. Bannon, chief strategist in the Trump White House until August 2017, is a leader among the alt-right. 

He said last year school boards were ripe for takeover by , calling the battle “trench warfare” in an early March podcast with Moms for Liberty co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice. 

The national organization has had some success in this arena: 56 candidates it endorsed joined school boards nationwide in fall 2021, Descovich told ĂŰĚŇÓ°ĘÓ, adding she’s thrilled to support leadership that understands parents’ “inherent right to direct the upbringing, education and medical care of their children.”

Steenman is perhaps the national group’s most high-profile chapter leader. She too is a darling of while often being lambasted by the left on Twitter. 

Dear Robin Steenman and M4L,
Feel free to homeschool or leave WCS. We are tired of your antics. Yours truly, The Majority

— Teacher mom using her voice (@CandiceColson)

She chose to become involved with the local school system after she heard the district was hiring a diversity and inclusion consultant, which she said “rots an organization from the inside out” and leads to quotas.

And her chapter boasts big-name connections: Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson headlined a two-day “American Dream Conference,” hosted by another, conservative organization, Be the People, in conjunction with Moms for Liberty. 

The event, sponsored in part by the local and national Moms for Liberty, for the alleged misuse of his name and image, was otherwise a success, with some 400 attendees. 

While Steenman’s group has managed to attract and keep the nation’s attention, it hadn’t been tested at home until the February curriculum vote. The Williamson County chapter, which prided itself on its size, reach and influence, had spent more than a year targeting the English Language Arts curriculum only to be largely rebuked. 

“I was not surprised by the vote because of my past dealings with them,” Steenman said. “It was completely as expected.”

Earlier, on the day of the vote, sitting on her back porch, wrapped in a cream-colored sweater, arms folded in an attempt to stave off the cold, the 43-year-old Air Force veteran looked unsettled about what was to come. 

Steenman considered the board’s decision a missed opportunity to do better for children, but she was already setting her sights on the election, a different, perhaps longer-lasting victory. 

“We exhausted every civil avenue for change and when we came up dry… the next option was to elect someone else,” she said. 

Steenman launched a PAC called late last year to promote candidates who support its traditional, conservative, Judeo-Christian values. A March event for that group drew hundreds. 

She’s been interviewing candidates for months, ferreting out those entrants she sees as Republican in name only. Steenman’s ideal contender should support individual rights, including “medical freedom,” which she said would allow parents to decide whether their children wear masks in school or receive vaccinations. 

They should also work to curb “the sexualization agenda in schools,” which she said refers to the introduction of sexual concepts at an early age, combined, soon after, with LGBTQ clubs — alongside books that address, explain or support these notions. 

Parents, she said, believe a book about seahorses, which notes that males carry and release the offspring, is “a soft intro to gender fluidity.” The book and the teacher’s manual focus too much on this fact, she said, noting that a 2019 documentary about a man giving birth to a baby called is more than a coincidence.

The seahorse thing? Yeah it’s thing for the Queer theory crowd. They want to force their ideas about gender onto your kids. They know what they’re doing. Make no mistake.

— Moms For Liberty Williamson County TN (@Moms4LibertyWC)

“It’s just planting the seed…of possibly transgenderism,” she said. “The parents want the choice and the right to introduce these things to their child when they are ready. Having those talks, parents feel that’s their territory.” 

She also disapproves of how certain words are taught, including “injustice,” “unequal,” “inequality,” “protest,” “marching” and “segregation.”  It’s not that the words themselves are bad, she told ĂŰĚŇÓ°ĘÓ, but that their use in a second grade grammar lesson forces students to “marinate in racism.” 

In the end, Williamson Families endorsed , including Jamie Lima, who also does not have children in the district. Like Steenman, he pulled his eldest because he didn’t want her to start kindergarten wearing a mask. 

Asked his main concern about the district one rainy February night, he read off a list of prepared remarks about the Wit & Wisdom curriculum. The first-time candidate and motorcycle shop owner said he wanted it removed, but did not offer a replacement. 

He said, too, he’s not seeking long-term involvement in running the district.

“I’m not looking to make a career out of this,” he said. 

Another of the men who won Steenman’s endorsement, incumbent board member Dan Cash, refused to accept the accolade. Cash, a conservative who has shown support for Moms for Liberty’s causes in the past, did not reply to multiple interview requests. It’s not clear if he believes he’ll fare better at the polls without Moms for Liberty’s backing. Steenman declined to comment.

Nevertheless, she hopes by keeping Cash on the board and adding other like-minded members, the district will be more amenable to her supporters’ wishes. Educators might have the training, she said, but parents know best.  

“Nobody loves that child like we do,” she said.

The future of Williamson County Schools 

Williamson County is slowly diversifying with a small but growing Black and Hispanic community. And, like the rest of the nation, it’s beginning to acknowledge its racialized past: It recently erected a statue of a Black soldier in the Franklin town square meant to honor the 180,000 Black people who joined the Union Army.  

The popular new addition — a response to the August 2017 white supremecist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — was placed directly across the street from that has stood in front of the county courthouse since 1899.

The fact that residents decided to erect a statue honoring Black Union Army soldiers but leave their Confederate monument intact may indicate a certain tricky balance: embracing a more inclusive historical narrative while refusing to tear down the traditionally dominant one. 

Sitting less than a mile away at The Factory at Franklin, an upscale shopping, dining and performance venue built inside a former stove factory, Cortez wondered if the move went far enough. 

“I think the statue is significant,” she said. “But in my mind, as long as the Confederate soldier stands in that square lifted to the sky and we still have the Confederate flag on our county seal, we are glorifying the South’s attempt to preserve slavery and to break the U.S. apart. It grieves me.”

So, she said, does Steenman’s attack on the school district’s curriculum. Cortez, 48 and a freelance writer, moved to Williamson County in 2004. She has four children, ranging in age from 7 to 21. Two already graduated from Williamson County Schools. Her third has autism and was put in a small, private school and her youngest is in the second grade.

Though the Moms for Liberty members are vocal, Cortez and others say they are small in number and that few parents share their convictions: Of the 37 people who filed complaints about the Wit & Wisdom curriculum with the reviewing committee, 14 lived within the school system’s boundaries but did not have students in the district. 

Centrist parents in Williamson County see Moms for Liberty as an outside entity — not only because some members have no children in the district — but because the organization itself originated in another state. 

Some worry about the group’s next target and see the upcoming election as a place to stop the much-publicized local chapter in its tracks.

“We already bent over backward for them,” said Jeff Bourque, a data analyst with three children in the district. “We don’t need to do this anymore.”

The district, he said, is solid, educationally, which is why so many people are attracted to the area. Kenneth Chilton, who is running for school board, has a 7th grader in the district. An associate professor of public administration at Tennessee State University, he said he asked his son about one of the books Moms for Liberty flagged. The boy barely remembered it and certainly wasn’t upset by its contents.

“It’s not broken,” Chilton said of the district and curriculum. “It doesn’t need to be fixed.”

Revida Rahman, co-founder of One WillCo, says its members trust teachers to guide their children through complex topics, including race, without outside interference.

“You have to have a different perspective,” Rahman said. “You can’t go to school and learn everything you and your family agree with. The world is bigger than you and your family.” 

To that end, other groups, including a PAC called Williamson Strong, are searching for their own candidates, preparing them for what could be a nasty, partisan brawl in a race that only recently required entrants to. 

Led by former Williamson County school board member Anne McGraw, Williamson Strong will soon announce its own endorsements. McGraw said it is searching for public school advocates who have a direct, vested interest in the school system and who care about the success of all students and their teachers.  

“The August 4th election is going to determine the future of Williamson County public schools,” McGraw said. “It’s that dramatic. Either our community shows up to use their voice and their vote to elect public school advocates who aren’t interested in partisan politics, or disruptive extremists win the seats. We’ll only have ourselves — as a community who supposedly greatly values our school system and our teachers — to blame if the former happens.”

Lead art: A newly erected statue of a soldier in Franklin, Tennessee’s town square, honoring the 180,000 Black people who joined the Union Army.  (Jo Napolitano)