Instead, the Jefferson County board voted 3-2 to expand the membership on two existing curriculum review committees to include students, parents and administrators. The two women on the board who oppose the conservative majority held their heads in their hands after losing a bid to delay the vote so they could have more time to study the plan. [...]The big question now is which students, parents, and administrators will be added to the committees. Will the conservative members of the board allow opponents on, or will they stack the committees with their allies?It's not immediately clear whether the expanded committees will review the history course. [school board president Ken] Witt said he expected that the committees would be asked to.
The protests against the plan to sanitize and conservatize American history are inspiring. But the fact that they were necessary is a reminder that elections, however local, have consequences. Conservative voters are more likely to turn out for local and midterm elections, and that means that they often get to elect school boards and the like. Those elections may be low-profile, but as we're seeing here, their outcomes really do matter. That's worth remembering as we look to this November, when a similar pattern is expected to play out, with base Republicans turning out while too many base Democrats stay home.