Conservative Journalist Bethany Mandel Files for MoCo School Board
Mandel Has Sued MCPS After Being Blocked from Meeting
Lost in the candidate filing news coverage that understandably focused on Gov. Larry Hogan's entry into the US Senate race was Bethany Mandel's intriguing Montgomery County School Board candidacy. However, to his credit, Adam Pagnucco, writing in his Montgomery Perspective, quickly picked up on the significance of Mandel's candidacy earlier today with Are You Ready for Bethany Mandel?[i]
Mandel is a columnist for several national publications, including The Spectator, Fox News, Real Clear Politics, Newsweek, and the New York Post. Mandel's books and columns discuss educational literature and policies interfering with parents' rights to raise their children according to their belief system.
The Amazon marketing blurb for her book, Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation, captures her point of view:
"The Left is waging an all-out battle on the American family, particularly the youngest members. If they can make our children miserable, lead them to question every building block of society, and rebuild their entire concept of reality, then the Left and their woke indoctrinators will consider that a victory.
But we can't let them win.
As concerned parents and American citizens, we have to understand what's truly going on before we can do something about it. Stolen Youth provides an urgent deep dive into issues surrounding the current woke indoctrination happening in politics, education, medicine, mental health, entertainment, and culture.
These issues may seem subtle, insidious, and hard to make sense of, but armed with the information provided in this book, we now have a framework from which to fight. While we may simply be trying to parent our children well and create a healthy and happy home environment, this is no longer enough.
We must now go on the offense to protect our kids, and this book sheds a bright light on the reason why. We can no longer afford to stay ignorant. Our children's lives and the survival of our families are at stake." [ii]
This past fall, Mandel was joined by fellow journalist Mattew Foldi in a lawsuit against the Montgomery Board for violating the Maryland Open Meetings Act when the two of them were denied access to the June 27, 2023, Board of Education meeting. That meeting had been scheduled to consider an ending parental opt-out policy for certain books intended to advance the MCPS equity, including the agenda.
More about her lawsuit with co-plaintiff Mathew Foldi:
· https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/
· Lawsuit text [iii]
· MCPS June 27, 2023 meeting coverage: [iv]
Mandel’s candidacy could turn the coming Montgomery County School Board election campaign into a referendum on parents’ role and rights in their children’s education.
[i] https://montgomeryperspective.com/
[ii] https://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Progressives-Replacing-Radicalism/dp/1956007083
[iii] https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/13225559/Filed-MCPS.pdf?_ga=2.131439884.243440298.1699978510-1939669234.1699978510
[iv] https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/education/montgomery-county-parents-rallying-opt-kids-out-lgbtq-lessons-religious-beliefs-education-maryland/65-e1aaf951-c6d9-437a-8bf7-9fe5a75c7b71 & https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/montgomery-county-parents-protest-literacy-lessons-on-gender-and-lgbtq-issues/3374829/