Nation School Boards
EDUCATION
F
CONSERVATIVES WIN IN WAUKESHA
ED UP WITH CRITICAL R ACE
theory, sexually explicit textbooks, and forced masking in public schools, dissatisfied parents have been recalling school board members and vowing to replace others with people who will stand up for parental rights. Now, in what seems to be a growing trend, parents are fighting back and winning in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where conservative candidates have ousted three incumbent school board members. On April 5, Waukesha voters elected Marquell Moorer, Mark Borowski, and Karrie Kozlowski as members of the Waukesha County School Board. Insight reached out to each of the winners to find out what motivated them to run, what they believe needs to be fixed, and how they propose to make improvements in their school district.
3 new members elected as parents become more involved in shaping public education By Patricia Tolson
Why They Ran As the first and only black candidate to run for a school board position in Waukesha, Marquelle Moorer was tired of watching liberals use the life challenges of minorities, people of color, and even poor white children as an excuse to lower standards and expectations, and how they used a feigned a desire to “help them” as a means of forcing liberal ideology into the curriculum. “I want to reject the bigotry of low expectations,” Moorer told Insight. “That’s not going to move us forward in our district. It’s not going to move us forward in our city or in our state or the nation. I wanted to take a stand and 26 I N S I G H T April 15–21, 2022
55–60% OF THE CHILDREN
in Waukesha weren’t proficient in the fundamental subjects of math, science, language arts, and social studies.
say there are children who look like me, who come from the same circumstances of poverty and homelessness. However, what made a difference in my life was the people who believed in me and had high expectations for what I could do. We need those same high expectations for every single child, regardless of their circumstances or identity.” Mark Borowski, the father of two daughters, has always been involved in his community. After spending time on the board of directors at three different companies and 14 years of fundraising for various organizations, he was looking for the next way to make a difference. That’s when he met with a colleague who was a county supervisor who connected him with a very passionate parenting group. One thing led to another, and that’s when his campaign began. “The whole COVID thing was a hard learning situation for everyone,” Borowski told Insight, describing how the lockdowns led to virtual learning, then back to classroom instruction, before backpedaling to a hybrid learning system. “They did it without good information on whether or not kids were learning anything in virtual. I thought that was a poor decision, to make a choice without researching the facts.” While Borowski noted on his website that he opposes critical race theory (CRT), it was primarily so parents knew where he stood. While he did see it “seeping into the district,” he didn’t want to make it a major focus of his campaign. “I tried to focus on local issues, student
